Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Moderate
- melancholic
- austere
- mysterious
- thoughtful movie night
- western double feature
What critics said
Critics generally found the adaptation visually polished but flat, rushed, dramatically inert, and unable to translate Cormac McCarthy's novel into compelling cinema.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The Mexican journey repeatedly juxtaposes beautiful country with cruelty, death, and emotional indifference.
John Grady and Rawlins leave Texas seeking experience and freedom but encounter imprisonment, beatings, corpses, and capricious death.
Two Texas cowboys ride into 1940s Mexico, where unfamiliar social rules and political hierarchies determine their fate.
John Grady's relationship with Alejandra develops amid ranch power structures and the hazards of the Mexican journey.
Films like All the Pretty Horses, and why
The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
period western journey shaped by youthful idealism, harsh violence, and disillusionment
The Last Picture Show
romantic western drama combining frontier landscapes, doomed intimacy, and moral ambiguity
The Proposition
young protagonists confronting cruelty and adulthood in a mythic, unforgiving western setting
Movie Details
- Director
- Billy Bob Thornton
- Release Date
- 2000-12-11
- Runtime
- 117 min
- Rating
- 5.7 / 10 (248)
Cast
- Matt Damon
- Henry Thomas
- Lucas Black
- Penélope Cruz
- Rubén Blades
- Robert Patrick
- Julio Oscar Mechoso
- Angelina Torres
- J.D. Young
- Laura Poe
Where to watch in United States
- Rent
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand
- Buy
- Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is All the Pretty Horses about?
- Two young Texas cowboys cross into postwar Mexico seeking freedom, only to find a beautiful frontier ruled by violence, fate, and forbidden desire.
- What is All the Pretty Horses like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of All the Pretty Horses as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is All the Pretty Horses violent?
- Somewhat. Ember rates the violence in All the Pretty Horses as moderate.
- What did critics think of All the Pretty Horses?
- Critics generally found the adaptation visually polished but flat, rushed, dramatically inert, and unable to translate Cormac McCarthy's novel into compelling cinema.
- Which films are like All the Pretty Horses?
- Films with a similar feel include The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, The Last Picture Show, and The Proposition.
- How long is All the Pretty Horses?
- All the Pretty Horses runs 117 minutes.
- Where can I watch All the Pretty Horses?
- In United States, All the Pretty Horses is available to rent or buy from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand.
