This uplifting and poignant drama stars Clint Eastwood as Mike Milo, a one-time rodeo star and washed-up horse breeder who, in 1980, reluctantly takes a job from a friend and ex-boss, Howard Polk (Dwight Yoakam) to bring the man's young son, Rafo (Eduardo Minett) home from Mexico. Forced to take the backroads on their way to Texas, the unlikely pair faces an unexpectedly challenging journey, during which the world-weary horseman finds unexpected connections via through an affable and kind lady, Marta (Natalia Traven) whom seems to befriend Mike, and that through these circumstances, finds his own sense of redemption.
Others to round out the cast are Horacio Garcia Rojas as Aurelio, Fernanda Urrejola as Leta, Raul Alayo as Sergeant Perez, Brytnee Ratledge as hippie girl and Ivan Hernandez as Lucas.
This was brilliantly directed with subtlety and grit by the incomparable Clint Eastwood ("Play Misty for Me" '71, "High Plains Drifter" '73, "The Outlaw Josey Wales" '76, "Firefox" '82, "Sudden Impact" '83, "Bird" '88, "Unforgiven" '92, "True Crime" '99, "Space Cowboys" 2000, "Mystic River" '03, "Million Dollar Baby" '04, "Flags of Our Fathers" '06, Letters from Iwo Jima" '06, "Gran Torino" '08, "J. Edgar" '11, "American Sniper" '14, "Sully" '16, "The Mule" '18, "Richard Jewell" '19) plus many others. I've spoken about this filmmaker in many reviews and every one of them are incredibly well paced, well staged and brilliantly cohesive and concise, and this is no exception. What absolutely amazes me is that he's 91 and still directing and acting! Even if he has assistance with the directing aspect, the feel of the film is his trademark and then there's the acting which no one can help with that. How does this guy do it?! Because of his love of the craft, he will undoubtedly die on a movie set, but, at least he will be doing something he loves. He was also one of the producers as well. This filmmaker can truly do it all and with quality. It was creatively written by Nick Schenk (""Gran Torino" '08, "The Judge" '14, "The Mule" '18, "Battle Ready" (TV movie) '20) and N. Richard Nash ("Nora Prentiss" '47, "The Sainted Sisters" '48, "Dear Wife" '49, "The Vicious Years" '50, "The Goldbergs" '50, "Mara Maru" '52, "Top of the World" '55, "Porgy and Bess", "Dragonfly" '76, "Bintang Kejora" '86) plus TV and TV movies, based on a novel by N. Richard Nash. As this story opens, it almost feels as though it's not actually going anywhere--certainly not quickly, however, looking back in retrospect, I believe that feeling was a bit skewed in that being an Eastwood film, I think I was expecting what many others would expect in that this would be chock full of action and amazing stunts. After a point in story, I soon realized that this was a much different story as compassion, empathy and poignancy started to ease into the story more which made this script simply well-hewned. As Mike started off feeling imposed on and being cynical and crusty, we soon see another side to Mike that Mike didn't know existed and this character development was delineated with such pathos and subtlety. Kudos to these writers and to Eastwood as usual!
Has Eastwood got another film in him considering his age? Maybe--maybe not, but suffice it to say, even if he were to die tomorrow, he will leave such a legacy that, if film students aren't studying his film today, they will at that point. Through the decades, his acting has always been captivating, but it's his directing which, in my opinion, has shown his true talent. He could possibly be nominated for yet another Oscar for this gem.
Out of 4 Stars: 4 Rated: PG-13 103mins.
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