Review of Gentlemen Broncos (2009) by Thesagepenguin — 14 Aug 2011

I enjoyed both Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, but Gentlemen Broncos feels more like an inept attempt to capture Hess' style than an effort from Hess himself. if you remove what worked from Napoleon Dynamite (the endearing performances and odd resemblance to reality amidst the bizarre) and pepper in more than a dash of inane bathroom humor just to guarantee a sunk ship, then you get Gentlemen Broncos - a movie trying so hard to be weird and off-beat that nothing feels genuine, and everything comes off contrived.

The movie practically shouts its absurdities at its audience, pleading for them to become catchphrases and fads. But what won hearts with Napoleon Dynamite was its spontaneity. In contrast, Gentleman Broncos is cold calculated absurdity.

And in this reviewer's opinion, it is flat-out awful. I haven't found myself less entertained in years, and have rarely found myself more insulted as a viewer by a movie smugly assuming own charm. Avoid this.