Biased rating. I'm a Costner fan Wyatt Earp is a long epic film that has plenty of flaws but I still love it. This film was made during Costners epic movie phase after he won big at the Oscars for Dances with Wolves. He got really into trying to replicate the epic big screen pictures from the golden era of cinema. After Dances he did Robin Hood, Wyatt Earp, Waterworld, and The Postman. Most of those films did poorly at the box office and they all got ripped by critics. Years later they are actually being looked upon for fondly. Waterworld is a great summer Sci-fi action flick, Robin Hood was his medieval movie (not my favorite), The Postman I really enjoy because the premise is quite good but the execution wasn't the best, and Wyatt Earp was his return to his best genre the Western.
Costner is one of the best Western stars of all time. You can argue the quality of some of those films (he's never made a bad Western, I will die on that hill) but his performance in them are consistently great. He just knows how to act in a Western period. Wyatt Earp is probably the worst western he's ever made even though I think it's great despite its flaws. This film is packed with great performances. Denis Quid is an amazing Doc Holiday and if it wasn't for the most charismatic performance in a Western ever by Val Kilmer he would he far more praise for his showing in this film.
The main issues with this film that I feel most people have is the length and most notably the first act which drags and has the worst acting of the film. Costner has the stary eyed kid was just cringe. When his wife dies that's when the movie really gets going and he moves into the cold demeanor of the gunslinger. If they could have shortened the beginning parts of Wyatt's life and dedicated more time to when he really goes out west it would have been a much better film. They could have cut through his youth in 15 minutes and then used the other 2 1/2 hours to tell the rest of the story but with characters fleshed out more and spend more time in other places before they get to Tombstone. If you are a Costner fan or you love Westerns you will enjoy this movie. You can kinda tune out for the first 30 to 40 minutes of the film because you won't be missing much and it really doesn't play that big a part of the story because everything that happens in that time has almost nothing to do with the rest of his life or the main arch other than saying he's cold and unloving because his wife died when he was young. You don't need a third of a film to get that point across especially when you do it the way he did here. Other than that it's a great film. Beautiful cinematography, fun performances, solid gunfights, and a good soundtrack really make this film a must watch for any Western fan. Don't let a weak opening ruin something that's pretty good and the weak love storyline doesn't hurt it either because the meat and potatoes of the film is based on the family bond, events of tombstone, and vendetta ride after the O. K. Corral.