The Rider (15.)
Directed by Chloe Zhao.
Starring Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Terri Dawn Pourier, Lane Scott. 106 mins.
I guess that now is perhaps the best time ever to be an American cowboy: the landscape is still epic, the sense of freedom and of being at one with nature palpable and, now that the wild west has gravitated to the high schools, the chances of being shot are minimal. But, the livestock is still dangerous. Zhao's film is a kind of fly-on-the-wall drama. Its tale of a young rodeo star trying to rediscover his place in the world after a kick in the head and the resulting head trauma stop him doing what he loves, features the actual people reenacting events very similar to those that actually happened to them.
It's like The Misfits with real people rather than Marilyn, Gable and Clift, and gently observed, semi-improvised truth rather than Arthur Miller's maudlin dramatics. In the title role, Brady Jandreau has a casual but commanding screen presence and the film slips audiences into an unfamiliar world with total assurance. It's a wild west full of big skies filled with grey clouds.
It's an enormously impressive achievement, possibly a tad overpraised in terms of is-it-a-good-night-out, but you'd be hard pressed to not see how well put together it is and how skillfully Zhao has coaxed the performances out of non professionals. She is a real cowboy whisperer.
Directed by Chloe Zhao.
Starring Brady Jandreau, Tim Jandreau, Lilly Jandreau, Cat Clifford, Terri Dawn Pourier, Lane Scott. 106 mins.
I guess that now is perhaps the best time ever to be an American cowboy: the landscape is still epic, the sense of freedom and of being at one with nature palpable and, now that the wild west has gravitated to the high schools, the chances of being shot are minimal. But, the livestock is still dangerous. Zhao's film is a kind of fly-on-the-wall drama. Its tale of a young rodeo star trying to rediscover his place in the world after a kick in the head and the resulting head trauma stop him doing what he loves, features the actual people reenacting events very similar to those that actually happened to them.
It's like The Misfits with real people rather than Marilyn, Gable and Clift, and gently observed, semi-improvised truth rather than Arthur Miller's maudlin dramatics. In the title role, Brady Jandreau has a casual but commanding screen presence and the film slips audiences into an unfamiliar world with total assurance. It's a wild west full of big skies filled with grey clouds.
It's an enormously impressive achievement, possibly a tad overpraised in terms of is-it-a-good-night-out, but you'd be hard pressed to not see how well put together it is and how skillfully Zhao has coaxed the performances out of non professionals. She is a real cowboy whisperer.
