All the Pretty Horses is a 2000 American Western film produced and directed by Billy Bob Thornton, based on Cormac McCarthy's novel of the same name, and starring Matt Damon and Penélope Cruz.
Plot[]
In 1949, young cowboy John Grady Cole is rendered homeless after his family's ranch is sold. He asks his best friend Lacey Rawlins to leave his family ranch in San Angelo, Texas, and join him to travel on horseback to cross the border 150 miles (241 km) south, to seek work in Mexico. They encounter a peculiar boy named Jimmy Blevins on the trail to Mexico, whom they befriend, but from whom they then separate. Later on, they meet a young aristocrat's daughter, Alejandra Villarreal, with whom Cole falls in love.
Cole and Rawlins become hired hands for Alejandra's father, who likes their work, but Cole's romantic interest in Alejandra is not welcomed by her wealthy aunt. After Alejandra's father takes her away, Cole and Rawlins are arrested by Mexican police and taken to prison, where they visit Blevins, who has been accused of stealing a horse and of murder, and is killed by a corrupt police captain. Cole and Rawlins are sent to a Mexican prison for abetting Blevins' crimes, where they must defend themselves against dangerous inmates. The pair are both nearly killed.
Alejandra's aunt frees Cole and Rawlins, on the condition that she never sees them again. While Rawlins returns to his parents' ranch in Texas, Cole attempts to reunite with Alejandra over her family's objections. Her aunt is confident that Alejandra will keep her word and not get back together with Cole – so much so that she even gives Cole her niece's phone number. Cole urges Alejandra to come to Texas with him. She, however, decides she must keep her word and though she loves him, she will not go with him.
Cole sets out to get revenge on the captain who took Blevins' life, as well as to get back his, Rawlins' and Blevins' horses. After making the captain his prisoner, he turns him over to a group of Mexican men, including one with whom Cole had previously shared a cell when they were imprisoned by the captain. Cole is spared the decision to kill the captain, but it is implied the men to whom the captain was turned over will do that.
Returning to the United States and riding through a small town in Texas, stringing two horses behind the one he is riding, he stops to inquire what day it is. It is Thanksgiving. He asks a couple of men if they would be interested in buying a rifle, as he needs the money. One is a sheriff's deputy and arrests him because all three horses have different brands, and they suspect Cole is a horse thief.
In court, Cole tells the judge his story from the beginning. The judge believes him and orders Cole freed and the horses returned to him. Later that evening, Cole shows up at the judge's home, troubled. The judge had said good things about him in court, but Cole feels guilty that Blevins was killed, although there was nothing he could have done to prevent his death. He is upset with himself for not having spoken up at the time. The judge tells him he is being too hard on himself and it could not have been helped; he must go on and live his life. Cole rides to Rawlins' family's ranch, where he returns his friend's horse.
Cast[]
- Matt Damon as John Grady Cole
- Jesse Plemons as Young John Grady Cole
- Henry Thomas as Lacey Rawlins
- Angelina C. Torres as Luisa
- J.D. Young as Grandfather
- Sam Shepard as J.C. Franklin
- Robert Patrick as Cole
- Lucas Black as Jimmy Blevins
- Penélope Cruz as Alejandra Villarreal
- Rubén Blades as Don Hector de la Rocha y Villarreal
- Míriam Colón as Doña Alfonsa
- Lonnie Rodriguez as Esteban
- Raul Malo as Singer
- Frederick Lopez as Lieutenant
- Julio Oscar Mechoso as Captain Raul
- Vincente Ramos as Commandante
- J.D. Garfield as Carlos
- Jo Harvey Allen as Judge's wife
- Julio C. Cedillo as Campesino
- Marc Miles as Deputy Smith
- Bruce Dern as The Judge