The first of a possible four Western epics, Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga – Chapter 1 is a throwback that tries (and fails) to reckon with the genre's ugly history. By the time the film ends, its three storylines are nowhere close to intersecting – heck, one of them doesn’t even get started until the 2-hour mark.

“Horizon” is no “Lonesome Dove,” though Costner tries, and mostly succeeds, at setting aside Western clichés about what towns really looked like, and how frontier life worked. The real problem is the script (by Costner and Jon Baird), which is shapeless.

Kevin Costner's Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 1 is a scattered start to this series. The film fails to stand on its own, culminating in the equivalent of an extended trailer of the next film. It ends with no resolution or meaningful change with the characters, feeling like one long prologue for future installments.