2025 Sony Pictures
Rated: R
Length: 1 hr 43min
Drama ~ Romance ~ Western
Directed by: Carlyle Eubank
Starring: Wyatt Russell, Dennis Quaid, Auden Thornton, Mary McDonnell, Johnny Berchtold, and Tom Skerritt.
Eight seconds of glory, one lifetime to get back up.
Wyatt Russell stars as True Brandywine, a Bareback Bronc Rider clinging to a fading Rodeo career. Age and injuries are catching up to him before he can achieve the level of success he is striving for. In between travelling the rodeo circuit he lives with his Father George Brandywine (Dennis Quaid), his Mother Kathy Brandywine (Mary McDonnell), and his younger brother Caleb (Johnny Berchtold). They live on a farm in Montana and True works alongside his father and brother on the family farm when he is home. True’s father George used to be a Bareback Bronc Rider when he was younger and is trying to convince True that he needs to think about his future and join the Marines, telling him he can’t make a lifelong career out of the rodeo. But that is all True knows and wants to do with his life. There is a lot of tension between True and his father over his persistence that True give up the rodeo life. One of the things that George nags True about is the alternator in his truck, telling him constantly that if he doesn’t fix it he is going to end up stranded somewhere.
Out on the road in between Rodeo gigs, True stops at a Napa Auto Parts store in a small town and attempts to fix the alternator in the parking lot. It is still hot from the road and True accidently leans his forearm on the hot Radiator cap and gets branded with the circle of the cap and the word “Hot”. Ali (Auden Thornton) is a young Nurse living in town and just happens by and sees True is in distress. She asks True if he is alright and he says “Yes, I’m fine.” Then she tells him that she is a nurse and can help if he would like. He agrees and she attends to the burn going across the street to the pharmacy, for burn ointment and bandages, and patches him up. He asks if he can repay her with a drink and she tells him that she is on her way to meet friends for a drink and invites him along. They end up getting close and become romantically involved. Ali notices True’s drawing talent and tells him that he could make money with his art. True dismisses it as just a hobby as his father doesn’t think much of his artwork.
True has a bad fall after a Bronc Ride and suffers serious brain damage and is advised by the Doctor that he will never ride again. He becomes addicted to pain pills and that, coupled with not being able to ride and his father’s constant nagging to “do something with his life” bring a lot of tension in between True and Ali. True eventually snaps and, not wanting to do anything but Ride Broncs in the Rodeo circuit, packs up his gear in the truck with his horse and tells Ali that he needs to go without her back to the Rodeo circuit. It is not going good for True out on the circuit as he is broke and addicted to pain killers. He pulls into a remote ranch looking for work to help him along his way and meets Cliff (Tom Skerritt), the owner of the ranch who lives alone. Cliif tells him he could use some help on the ranch for a little while and takes True in. The next day True heads out on the remote southern pasture of the farm looking for a stray calf. He finds him and ropes him in but has a seizure, collapses and passes out. When he comes to he is covered in snow and suffering frostbite on one foot.
And that’s where the movie starts, with True lost in a snowy wilderness, trying to survive a freak spring blizzard, with flashbacks revealing the events leading up to his precarious situation. True’s identity and passion are deeply tied to rodeo riding, but injuries and family pressures complicate his path, forcing him to confront harsh realities. True is forced to rely on his resilience and confront his life choices amidst a fight for survival in the freak blizzard. The experience prompts a profound personal reckoning about what truly matters beyond his rodeo ambitions. True is a man caught between his love for the adrenaline-filled rodeo life and the dangerous physical toll it has taken on his body. His strained relationship with his father, who insists on a military path for him and his brother, adds to the tension. Despite his talent for drawing, True dismisses art as a viable escape, clinging instead to the diminishing hope of returning to the rodeo. As True battle injuries, illness, and the bitter cold, he is also forced to face his choices and the circumstances that led him to his tenuous situation.
Filmed in Anaconda, Deer Lodge, Butte, Drummond & Three Forks Montana it features some beautiful scenery. I noticed that Wyatt Russell and Vince Vaughan co-produced the movie. I think that even though it is classified as a Contemporary Western (meaning it is set in current times and not the 1800’s) it could be classified as a Romance. The relationship between True and Ali is pretty central to the story and figures pretty prominently in True’s thinking as he battles for survival and reflects on his past. Wyatt Russell I am not familiar with so I did a little research on him. He is the son of Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn. I really liked him in this and will look out for him in future movies. He did star in Thunderbolts which I have not seen yet, so I’ll add that to the list. Dennis Quaid was good as always, nice to see him again, as well as Tom Skerritt who is 91 years old by the way and still working! Go Tom! Auden Thornton is also new to me, she has been acting in a lot of TV series and a couple of movies I have not seen. I really liked her in this as Ali, she might be one of my new favorites.
I loved this movie….I loved the story, the characters, the scenery, the drama between True and his father, the romance and chemistry between True and Ali, True’s battle to find himself amidst all the things life does to shake your tree. It is a contemporary Western in that it is a modern day Cowboy in the rodeo business, but the story, the relationship themes and the search and struggle of self are universal themes that could apply to any story and backdrop. Yes, this is a good one…….
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