Thursday, August 9, 2012

HATFIELDS & MCCOYS: SLOW DOESN'T DESCRIBE IT

When I heard about this series coming to television I thought it could be interesting. When I heard that Kevin Costner and Bill Paxton were starring I definitely wanted to see how they did. My DVR wasn't working at the time so I was glad to hear it was coming to DVD. Unfortunately the series didn't live up to my expectations.

We all know the basics of the story, two warring families in the West Virginia/Kentucky area in the late 1800s. This show goes a little more in depth than any we've heard before starting with the original men who were friends only to become deadly enemies later in life.

Anse Hatfield (Costner) and Randall McCoy (Paxton) are seen fighting for the Confederacy as the show opens. Tired of the killing and battle, certain that they're working for a losing cause, Anse decides to quit and head home. Randall disagrees and stays only to be captured while the rest of their unit is all killed.

Anse returns home to start a lumber business and work the land with his family. Randall comes home after years in a battlefield prison, a beaten man and one who won't forgive Anse for leaving him behind. Added to this is the fact that Anse' Uncle Jim has killed a relative of Randall (without witnesses) and the feud between the two families is started.

Along the way various arguments and battles between the two families continue. With as many members of both as are seen here it makes you wonder if there were any other families living in the same area at the time! Bloodshed sways back and forth, hate festers between not just the two men but their families as well and no happy ending is in sight.

So why was it a disappointment? It was boring! The movie moves along at a snails pace giving us details of each and every incident that happens between the two families. The smallest slight is given screen time and the eventual outcome is evident from the start. Perhaps the makers of this series were hoping to give some depth to the story we've all been told, but do we really need the amount of depth they offer here? I found myself on more than one occasion checking the time display on the DVD player to find out just how much was left to watch and that was just on the first disc!

The acting is all over the place. Tom Berenger as Uncle Jim does a good job of being dislikeable. Costner does a great job at trying to bring harmony to the situation, trying to resolve problems only to be stopped dead in his tracks and forced to change into the mean old SOB he becomes. Paxton, an actor I've always thought highly of, just seems to be a one note ball of anger throughout.

The locations used here look drab and unattractive. Having family in West Virginia (thought I haven't been there in some time) I know that the area looks much better than presented here. Perhaps the idea was to show it in the worst light possible to go along with the way things were in those days.

The biggest problem with this show remains the length and the fact that it is boring, taking far too much time to tell the story. Great mini-series have always taken time to unfold a story but those have always held our attention from start to finish. While this isn't the worst mini-series ever it does offer little entertainment value except for pure history buffs.

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