Rocky

I'm not a huge Kevin Costner fan, but I have liked some of his movies enough to take a chance now and then. I also like modern-day cowboy stories -- I absolutely loved Longmire -- so when I saw that he was making a television saga about a ranching family in Montana I thought, why not?

I've been trying to figure out how to describe it in one sentence. Basically it's The Sopranos on horseback. Alas, not a fan of The Sopranos.

The opening scene of the first episode I can only describe as hideous; a car accident in which an injured Costner must put down a wounded horse. Definitely a trigger for anyone who cares for animals (I don't especially like horses, and it upset me a lot.) I suppose that was to shock me into becoming fascinated with the character and invested in finding out why it happened. Nada on both accounts, although I kept watching in hopes something else would.

The scenery is beautiful, but that's about it. The storylines and the conflicts didn't work for or interest me, and neither did the twists. The main problem I had with Yellowstone was the most unlikable cast of characters I've seen in years (and I've seen plenty.) There's no one to root for, even Costner, who does nothing to earn my sympathy. Most of the time he comes off as a villain. Not surprising that his daughter and sons are selfish, damaged, ugly people. Their wealth and how it hardened them didn't impress me, either. For a brief time I had hopes for Costner's head ranch hand, but he turned out to be an ass as well. I felt most repelled by the portrayal of the modern-day Native Americans, which seemed very stereotypical and skewed in all the wrong ways.

I think if you like bad guys as heroes and rich people acting like jerks you'll probably love Yellowstone. I really didn't.