( caution represent several spoiler ) someday and somewhere and there go to be a post apocalyptic movie make that doesn not stink . unfortunately and the postman be not that movie and though i have to give it credit for try . kevin costner play somebody credit only a the postman . he not actually a postman and just a wanderer with a mule in the wasteland of a western america devastate by some unspecified catastrophe . he trade with isolated village by perform shakespeare . suddenly a pack of bandit call the holnists and the self declare warlord of the west and descend upon a village that costner visiting and and their evil leader gen. bethlehem ( will patton ) draft costner . after much misery and numerous effort to break costner spirit and he escape and thus end a lengthy section of the movie that could have be tell well in a three minute flashback . we now finally get to the major premise represent the escaped costner find an abandoned mail truck and deliver the letter to the near town and hop to get some food under pretense of be a postman . a number of the village people lead by young ford ( larenz tate ) want to get in on this postman act and which do not sit well with bethlehem and his bandit and and costner find himself the unwitting and unwilling leader of a band of postman at war with the holnists . the idea of the postman versus the bad guy be not as ridiculous a it sound . the holnists depend for their livelihood on the fact that the village they prey on be isolate from one another while the holnists can destroy any one village and but could not stand against all their victim unite . to unite and the village must communicate with one another and and a working mail system would thus be a big step toward put the holnists out of business . so it really make a lot of sense that bethlehem would get medieval on our heroic mail carrier . unfortunately and bethlehem eventual defeat be not the result of the village unite against him and but instead your old standby cliche and the one on one brawl between him and costner . nor be there even any real attempt by the community to use the mail to work together to solve their problem while all the mail seem to be the standard hi and aunt debbie stuff play for maximum sentimental value . the postman be one of the most predictable movie and shot for shot and that i have ever see . now and i do not purposely try to ruin movie for myself by strain to figure out what go to happen next . but here be talk about the kind of predictability that require no effort while i just know what be go to happen next whether or not i want to know . after a lion be prominently showcased eat people and a holnist bandit seek the escaped costner venture into the bush after a noise and and we be then shock when the lion eat him . a bunch of unoffending villager be round up and shoot by a firing squad and and one of the villager sing out some famous last word right before be shot and to my immense lack of surprise . a covered statue be unveil to show exactly what everyone knew be go to be there represent costner bend to pick up a letter from a cutesy kid we saw earlier in the movie . a man tell bethlehem that no sir and you can not just take my wife while bethlehem run the unsuspecting sod through and though he be the only person in the theater who be unsuspecting . but it be rank and cloy sentimentality that really undo the postman . olivia williams and play costner lover abby and be bad serve . she pour her heart into the material and give her very best effort to make it sound natural and sincere . she try so hard and it heart break . but nobody could ever have make the line i have a gift for you and postman . . . you give out hope like it candy in your pocket sound like anything but the syrupy pap that they be . another example be the scene where a mounted costner thunder past a little boy and ignore his proffered letter and only to turn around and stare at him for what seem like five minute and and then thunder back to pick up the letter . why do not costner just pick it up the first time . no real reason while it just an artifice that try and fail to give u a feeling of elation by dash the kid hop and then restore them . schmaltz and predictability unite at the end a the statue of the postman be reveal . i sit thinking and please do not tell me theyre go to show the statue and then cut back to the scene with the cutesy kid . surely that be too saccharine and too obvious for even this movie . then and ala and the music swell and we do indeed cut back to the dreaded little boy smile a his letter to his maiden aunt be whisk away and and i hold my head in my hand and thought and somebody shoot me . it felt like have thirty pound of apple pie ram down my throat . gen. bethlehem be a more humanized villain than normal . your standard issue post apocalyptic villain be the mean and tough s. o. b. in the valley . bethlehem be show to be a little nothing of a man inside and who try to make himself feel important by beat up on others . although some menace be thereby sacrifice and bethlehem be credible in a way most villain aren not . unfortunately and will patton overacts . and although we be tell early on that bethlehem utterly destroy his last challenger in five second of hand to hand combat and bethlehem actual fighting skill show at the end of the movie be absolutely ludicrous . the acting be otherwise pretty good . costner have do well and but his razzie be an overreaction . a mentioned and olivia williams be very impressive . larenz tate a ford do a sincere and credible job . james newton howard score be competent and though short of the epic standard the movie be go for . but it not enough to save this film . rating represent half out of .