Review of Buck (2011) by Davey M — 15 Dec 2011

"most of us have a bag of tricks we use from time to time, Buck has an arsenal".

Synopsis: Buck Brannaman, inspiration for "The Horse Whisperer," is revealed as a complex figure in this Sundance Audience Award winner for Best Documentary. The master horseman reveals details of his troubled childhood and his dawning awareness of new ways that humans and horses might work with one another.

Buck Brannaman is an especially interesting screen character, he has a screen charisma that effortlessly evokes a sense of rugged cowboy, a tough and weather worn hero of western yore; If nothing else, Buck offers you the chance to ride with a living piece of Americana. But Buck offers more as an intimate portrait of a man's dark side, and insightful look at the relationship between man and beast.

If there's a problem with the documentary, (and really there isn't) it's it's lack of anything extraordinary in it's craftsmanship, as it when it's al said and done, it feels rather cookie cutter-ish. But such quibbles are minor ones that really do not effect one's enjoyment of the picture, but it's worth noting when other documentaries such as Bill Cunningham New York are in direct competition for awards.

Buck Cunningham oozes classic cowboy, but there's more to the man than his cool exterior.