Legends of the Fall Movie Review

Legends of the Fall is a sprawling epic about three brothers, their father, and the woman who weaves among all of them. The film is primarily focused with the middle brother, played by Brad Pitt. Pitt is the only redeeming feature of the film; Pitt’s talents have gone relatively unnoticed since his debut in Thelma and Louise in 1991, and Legends should give him the notice he deserves.

The rest of the cast is not so lucky. Henry Thomas (the kid from E.T.) still looks like he did ten years ago, Aidan Quinn is out of his league, Julia Ormond spends the majority of the film in tears, and even Anthony Hopkins has a dismal role, half of which he plays as a stroke victim.

While it has some lush cinematography, Legends soon becomes The Movie That Will Not Die, degenerating from stoic period piece to a Three Stooges slapstick movie to a bad soap opera. After about two and a half hours (and some 50 years of family dramatics), it’s a relief that all the principals are dead.