How does an entertaining film like this get overlooked and undervalued? Woody Harrelson was born to play "Big Boy" and Billy Crudup does a fine job playing his sidekick. Patricia Arquette gets a little annoying about halfway through the film, but we've learned to expect that from her so that shouldn't come as a surprise.The friction created throughout this film keeps the interest level up and makes for a lot of fun, especially when things really start heating up; Harrelson becomes more and more volatile while Crudup becomes more and more worried about Big Boy's safety, all the while dealing with the animosity and jealousy he feels towards his best friend.It all adds up to a story that keeps you guessing as to how it will finalize. The ending won't surprise anyone, but it still feels right, even if it isn't exactly what we may have wanted. Good movies do that — instead of giving us what we want, they give us a better and more fitting ending.Sure, 'The Hi-Lo Country' isn't the best western ever made, but it certainly isn't the worst. It's definitely one of the more entertaining.

This movie has all the ingredients to make a great movie. It is beautifully photographed with wonderful western landscapes. It has one of Woody Harrelson's best performances as a hard drinking, hard working, hard loving good old boy rancher. It has excellent support from Sam Elliot, Billy Crudup and Penelope Cruz. It is set in the late 40's, early 50's when small independent ranchers are being replaced by large commercial farms.The problem with this movie is that is focuses way too much on the three way relationship between Billy Crudup, Woody Harrelson and Patricia Arquette. Arquette and Harrelson are lovers and Crudup lusts after Arquette. This relationship is not believable because Arquette's character is untrustworthy, amoral, and a liar. The woman who is more interested in Crudup is the Penelope Cruz character. The movie never explains why Crudup would prefer Arquette over the much more beautiful and sexy Cruz. The Sam Elliot character is wasted. He does a good job of portraying the businessman rancher. He is not evil, but all the small time ranchers hate him because he is contributing to, and a symbol of, the end of small ranches. But it is not Sam Elliot that is destroying the small ranches, it is the progress of commercialization which Sam Elliot represents. It is this contradiction between good person Sam Elliot is and the evil that he represents that makes is character so interesting. This movie should have been more about Sam Elliot.The movie falls apart into silly soap opera / action movie like scenes at the end. It abandons the interesting character study and gives us emergency rescues in a storm, deaths, murders, cover-ups and "dramatic" revelations. Those scenes belong in some other movie.

Probably lo, considering that the film runs its course over much too long a time span. The film is low on every kind of emotion that an audience member could possibly emote. *SPOILER* By the time Woody Harrelson's character is killed by his brother (something I freakishly predicted 10 minutes into the film) I didn't care and the three people I'd watched it with had fallen asleep. I had to rewind the movie to prove my prediction after they woke up. I actually dozed off for a minute or two, and I NEVER fall asleep in a film (except for Dune countless times). This movie could have been really good, as the acting is pretty much flawless across the board. Sam Elliot was born to make westerns, and no single person gives an unbelievable performance. There are some very nice shots of pre and post World War II Texas. Very authentic in its feel and atmosphere, where this film misses is in its flow. I rented this film because of the actors in it, but also because it had Scorcese's name attached to it as a producer. Scorcese didn't read the script, couldn't have, there is no way, PLEASE MARTY SAY YOU DIDN'T READ THE SCRIPT!!! Boring but not boorish.

I have to admit it, The Hi-Lo Country is not the best movie ever made. However I did have a very good time watching it and it left me with that strange feeling that you sometimes get when a movie strikes you right in the heart.By the way, there is something else: the music, I mean I've read a lot of comments about this movie and I can't remember of any mentioning the music! I may be the only one but I really loved that deep powerful instrumental song.