Roger Ebert gave it 3.5 stars out of 4, calling it "... an imperfect but deeply involving and beautifully made Western ..." Peter Bradshaw of the The Guardian gave the film 4 stars out of 5, writing, "Duvall gives his best performance in ages" in a "... tough, muscular, satisfying movie. The film won the 2004 Western Heritage Award, and was nominated for a Golden Satellite Award, an MTV Movie Award (Diego Luna), a Motion Picture Sound Editors Award as well as a Taurus Award for stunt artist Chad Camilleri. Open Range was selected the 48th greatest western of all time by TimeOut London.