Spidersecu Don't Believe the Hype

FrogGlace In other words,this film is a surreal ride.

Dirtylogy It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Jerrie It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

nehpetstephen In The Rider, South Dakota's stirring pastures have been gorgeously lensed by Joshua James Richards, who also shot the overcast rural landscapes of Yorkshire in 2017's God's Own Country. The Rider is a beautiful film to look at, its authentic vision set against a minimalist score by Nathan Halpern. It helps that star Brady Jandreau, playing a version of himself (as are all the actors here, it seems), is handsome and subtly charismatic.But the film sputters throughout its running time, especially in the first half. I have no doubt that what I've seen in The Rider is a very close and faithful account of reality--this is what these people wear, what they believe, how they talk, what they dream of, what misfortunes befall them, etc.--yet something about writer/director Chloé Zhao's style makes so much of this movie feel fake. For instance, there is a scene early in the film where Brady and three of his young friends drive out into the middle of the prairie to get drunk, play the guitar, take turns jumping over a bonfire, and hang out. All the details of this situation are, I'm sure, 100% accurate, yet the manner in which they take turns telling very detailed, narratively clear, expository stories about the worst times each of them was injured at a rodeo seems explicitly false. Is this how close friends talk to each other? Surely they've heard about these injuries before--in fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were all there to witness each one. Of course sometimes with friends we reminisce about the details of significant events that have happened to us, even if none of that is "news" to any of us, yet I couldn't help but feel that the way in which this scene unfolds in The Rider is simply because Zhao needed an easy way to guarantee that her viewers would understand the physical stakes of being a rodeo rider. And when it seems so blatant that the things I'm seeing on screen are only happening because there's a director right behind the camera--especially in a movie that strives for realism/naturalism like this one--it's hard for me to become fully invested.That's one example, but there are frequent moments like that throughout the film. I wonder if Brady's story and Zhao's purposes would have been better served if she had simply made an over-the-shoulder documentary instead of striving for whatever narrative nonfiction thing this movie would be characterized as. It might've required a lot more footage, but I'm sure the payoff would have been more genuine.In any case, what's here is certainly worth a look, and certain other memorable scenes--such as one in which Brady wrestles with a teenager who's just beginning to aspire to be a rodeo rider--don't possess the weakness I've just described. More importantly, the story's message is thought-provoking, meaningful, and nicely nuanced. Brady lives in a world where there are narrow expectations, opportunities, and pathways in life for the humans who inhabit it, and even fewer for the horses who live with them. What happens when a cruel twist of fate slams several of those already limited doors shut? How can dignity remain in a world that's been designed to close out those who are impaired? Where can sources of hope and support be found in a world that's not very amenable to change or difference? The Rider grapples with these questions in a resonant and authentic way, even if the movie isn't always as effective as it could've been.

Oscar von Seth This is an exceptional film, offering moments of beauty, compassion and humanity which stays with you long after the credits roll. The photography is exquisite. The acting is flawless. All in all, this is a moving piece of work that ought to go down in history as one of the most magnificent films of all time.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU This is a film about Oglala Sioux in the Dakotas today one century or so after the end of the genocide and hardly fifty years after the end of total segregation and ten years or so after the final lawsuit giving all Indian reservations the compensations and « reparations » they were entitled to get after all the treacherous exploitation they have been the victims of. If there is any improvement since Wounded Knee, it is because American Indians have taken their own lives and their own future in their own hands and have decided to claim their heritage and a fair position in society as well as a fair and just independence and freedom on their reservations that are theirs and no one else's. Yet nothing is simple since Trump has managed to authorize the crossing of Indian land in Montana and the Dakotas for a pipeline that has no guarantee not to be a polluting hazard. The film is beautiful and at the same time very sad. Beautiful because of the human feelings these men feel and express for each other and one another. Beautiful because these young men want to stand tall, speak out and be what they dream to be and become. But beautiful too because on this rough road there are accidents and one has to accept one's lot and one's neighbor's lot because that neighbor is a brother of sorts, a brother in humanity and in ambition or dream. When a horse is wounded in a way or another he has to be shot out of misery. But human beings are supposed to cling to life and everyone is supposed to help the wounded man to survive and even live with his dream, even if this dream is now frustrated.This humanity is rare among human beings but it seems to be a rule among these Indians. And the sister and daughter, who is slightly handicapped is made as comfortable as possible and is protected against accidents that could happen in this life, accidents that could come along with harassment or even worse.It is true it is a world of men, and women are not very present in this environment. That's probably the shortcoming of the film because Indian women are essential in this renascence, this rebirth of a nation beyond its annihilation, because they can bring the traditions back, the theater, the dancing, and the music and then women and men are equal and have original contributions that are absolutely complementary. But since the film is centered on rodeo and horse training, it seems obvious women are not very present in this activity. Cowboys are boys and cowgirls have not been born yet. Next generation might change this.This film is a dramatized real story in which the main actors more or less live their own real lives as if they were true fiction, true to life and yet fictional by the dream invested in this true life.Dr. Jacques COULARDEAU

Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de) "The Rider" is a new American full feature film that premiered back in 2017 and it is the second theatrical release (after a handful of short movies) by writer and director Chloé Zhao and for that, these almost 105 minutes are a pretty respectable achievement. It is also much more known than her first already. Which may not necessarily have to do with the cast as pretty much everybody in here is even more of a rookie than Zhao. If you look at their bodies of work and also at their first names, you could almost say this is a documentary movie. Brady Jandreau's own background emphasizes this even more. So good acting all along I would say. Speaking about the documentary element here, I am not sure how much of what we see in here really did happen as it gets a bit too melodramatic sometimes. The disabled brother, the severe injuries to the protagonist, the disabled sister, the close-to-death experience at the end, the horse shooting part and so on. It is a bit much probably, even if most of it is executed with precision. I thought the disabled sister was really good too, so good that I was genuinely worried something horrible could happen to her at the end that eventually causes the main character to lose his sanity the way he was close to in this wrestling moment already when we find out a great deal about the aggression he has under his surface. More words on the dad who may have been my favorite character. He was written so well, and he performed so convincingly too. He did care a lot for his son, but struggled in showing him, not just because of his gambling problems, but because of his character that just won't allow many emotions to the surface and prefers to work it cool instead. But the final scene when he brings his daughter to the show at the end is maybe the most subtly touching father-son moment of the entire film and how he shows his son how much he wants him to live and what he is about to lose. And lets not forget about all the struggles his dad has been facing when it comes to his wife and his three children (that we know of). So yes this is a somewhat different western we have here, don't expect a great deal of Brokeback Mountain in here, in terms of style and tone it felt a lot more on the level of "The Wrestler" in my opinion. So the title fits too. And the film does not lose itself in romance plots as there is so much other stuff going on in Brady's life. The one question that will be with you throughout the film from start to finish for over 1.5 hours is will he live or die at the very end. Go and watch for yourself. Maybe you will be intrigued, maybe not by this slightly underseen film. But most likely you will not be disappointed. I give it a thumbs-up. Good cinematography too that many other westerns these days can learn something from for sure.