“Yellowstone” follows the Dutton family, led by John Dutton, who controls the largest contiguous ranch in the United States. The ranch is under constant attack by those it borders — land developers, an Indian reservation, and the United States of America’s first National Park.
Back in the ’70s and ’80s, if you were an actor, it was your mission to land on the big screen, not television. If you got your big break in TV, you worked your way up to making movies, not the other way around, otherwise, it was career suicide. In today’s world of TV and movies, big-screen actors and Oscar-winning filmmakers go between the two mediums, as TV, with the introduction of streaming services such as Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon Prime, offer original programming, movies and TV shows that far exceed the quality currently available on the big screen.
While “Yellowstone” wasn’t produced by any of the aforementioned streaming services, it was produced by Paramount Television, the fact still remains that it is one of the best shows on TV. Costner won 2 Oscars for his 1990 western epic, “Dances with Wolves,” for producing and directing and now he is the star of a hit TV show. Twenty or more years ago this would never have happened and someone of his stature would never have agreed to star in a television series, no matter how well written it was, that’s just the way the industry was back then. Thank God for the change.
John Linson and Taylor Sheridan created “Yellowstone” and Sheridan is most certainly a force to be reckoned with as he is a terrific writer and director. With past hits like “Sicario,” “Hell or High Water,” and “Wind River,” he has proven himself to be a writer and director that actors and studios gravitate towards as his writing is so descriptive but at the same time, intoxicating. He chooses to write screenplays with simple plotlines so he can give more time and development to the characters within the story. Any actor worth their weight in salt would kill to work with a writer/director like Sheridan.
In “Yellowstone,” Kevin Costner plays John Dutton, a man who owns the largest interconnecting ranch in America. He runs the family business along with his daughter Beth (Kelly Reilly), his two sons, Kayce (Luke Grimes) and Jamie (Wes Bentley), and the ranch foreman, Rip (Cole Hauser). As season two begins, we are introduced to the Dutton family as they go about their daily routines but things quickly spiral out of control when the Beck brothers, Malcolm and Teal (Neal McDonough and Terry Serpico), two ruthless businessmen who have a lot of sway in the area, decide that they want to partner with John because combined, they will be able to stop Dan Jenkins (Danny Huston), a billionaire land developer who has joined forces with Chief Thomas Rainwater (Gil Birmingham), the chief of the nearby Native American reservation, as they plan to build a huge casino and hotel.
John refuses their offer as he is aware of their cold-blooded and cutthroat business practices and no sooner has he done so, hundreds of his cattle mysteriously die overnight. He cannot prove that the Beck brothers are responsible but he knows they are. When one of Rainwater’s loyal men is killed and Dan Jenkins’ liquor license for his hotel is revoked, the three men decide to put their differences aside and work together to eradicate their adversaries. As the three men formulate a plan, John’s grandson Tate (Brecken Merrill), disappears from the ranch one evening and John and his family go all out to retrieve Tate and put an end to the Beck brothers, once and for all.
Everything about the show, the writing, direction, cinematography, music, and character development, are all in a class all by themselves. Sheridan’s exhilarating and almost-rhythmical writing gives each of the central characters, as well as many of the supporting cast, dialogue that an actor could only dream of articulating. The performances from all involved are practically flawless and each episode flows smoothly, even as the Dutton family goes through their ups and downs. “Yellowstone” flourishes with each passing season and the attention to detail is impeccable. Each of the main characters have their own trials and tribulations to deal with but when the family, as a whole, is threatened, which is often, they band together to form an unmovable alliance. And that is exactly what “Yellowstone” is, unstoppable. As season two ends, and many of the story arcs have been concluded, one can’t help but surmise what season three will bring. June 17th of 2020 can’t get here fast enough.
Available on Blu-ray and DVD November 5th
