Yellowstone premiered on the Paramount Network on Wednesday evening with some big names on board.
Kevin Costner of
Dances with Wolves fame stars in the new television series and serves as its executive producer. Taylor Sheridan, known for the critically acclaimed film
Wind River, is writing, directing and producing the show.
The series also features Native talent in some prominent roles. Gil Birmingham portrays Thomas Rainwater, the chairman of a fictional tribe whose "Broken Rock" reservation borders the ranch of a wealthy family headed by John Dutton, played by Costner.
Both the reservation and the ranch border Yellowstone National Park, a situation parallel to that of the real
Blackfeet Nation and the
Glacier National Park. That's where one of the show's clashes originates -- Broken Rock obviously wants the land back.
"This nation doesn't want to give it back? So be it," Rainwater tells a U.S. senator in the opening episode.
"We'll buy it back -- with their money," he says as he looks over the floor of the tribe's gaming facility.
Despite the prominence of the tribe and its issues, the Native cast appears to get second billing.
Paramount Network's landing page for the show only lists the Dutton family and other non-Indians -- including a developer who also wants a piece of Yellowstone -- as the featured performers.
And reviews have been mixed to downright negative. Although James Poniewozik of The New York Times praises the show's "fresh" approach to tribal politics, he calls the Dutton story line "simply stale."
Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone was equally critical. While he says the Indian characters are "inherently more interesting and sympathetic" than their non-Indian counterparts, he thinks the primary plot is unoriginal.
Yellowstone was filmed in Montana and Utah, according to news reports. It will run for five episodes, each two hours long.
Read More on the Story:
Kevin Costner Talks ‘Yellowstone’, Varied Roles & A Venice ‘Fandango’ Lesson – Cannes Lions
(Deadline.Com June 21, 2018)
'Yellowstone' Is A Sophisticated Effort To Create Prestige TV For Rural America
(National Public Radio June 20, 2018)
Yellowstone Series-Premiere Recap: In a Big Country
(Vulture / New York Magazine June 20, 2018)
‘Yellowstone’: Taylor Sheridan Breaks Down a Bloody and Surprising Feature-Length Premiere
(IndieWire June 20, 2018)
‘Yellowstone’ Review: Kevin Costner Plays Cowboy in Taylor Sheridan’s Brutal Western Trainwreck
(IndieWire June 19, 2018)
‘Yellowstone’ boasts Costner, strong Native American co-star
(The Associated Press June 19, 2018)
Review: ‘Yellowstone’ Wrangles Daddy Issues on the Range
(The New York Times June 19, 2018)
Kevin Costner saddles up for TV in plodding 'Yellowstone'
(CNN June 19, 2018)
'Yellowstone': TV Review
(The Hollywood Reporter June 18, 2018)
'Yellowstone' Review: Been Here, Seen This
(Rolling Stone June 18, 2018)
'Yellowstone' is a Western saddled with poor writing (review)
(The Cleveland Plain-Dealer June 16, 2018)
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