Dances With Wolves

Now, I hate Kevin Costner, but I love Dances With Wolves. Maybe I love him as a director, but just not as an actor. Every other movie he's in I literally can't stand. The Bodyguard? Seriously? Bull Duram? No thanks. Maybe I just love that old wild west, cowboys and Indians. But it's more than that. I can admit it's more than that. I feel like every time I watch that movie I'm able to take something new away from it. When I was little I loved his reverence and sentimentality for his animals, when I got older I loved the love story, and now I love the historical aspects of it. The soundtrack is really good, the cinematography is epic, the story is original and endearing. You know what I think it is? I think it's that, basically, through the whole movie, Costner is being made fun of. He's not so pretentious and self-centered as he seems to come off in other roles. In this role he's playing the learner, we get to watch him struggle and squirm, and I like watching him be uncomfortable because I don't like him! Either way, it's the one time when I can say it's good acting on his part. You know it's a good movie when one of the scenes that really stays with you is in the opening sequence: After he's been told he needs his legs amputated and her pulls on his boots, gets on his horse and rides in front of the enemy lines. That slow motion shot of him with his arms open, chest out, not wincing, not flinching, just waiting. When I was six I was run over, my legs were torn to shreds and the only thing keeping my feet from separating from my ankles was a pair of leather hiking boots. I guess when it happened, I thought of that scene and I guess I thought I was going to die. I mean all that blood when you're that little will make you think that, but all I could think was, "Get my horse! Get me out of here!"