Review of Gentlemen Broncos (2009) by Stephen S — 14 May 2010

"Your ovaries will destroy me".

A teenager attends a fantasy writers' convention where he discovers his idea has been stolen by an established novelist.

REVIEW.

Expand your mind and ignite the plasma-fires of your four dimensional imaginations, my juvescent readers. It is time to reflect, to ponder, to review the woefully neglected film entitled "Gentlemen Broncos." The latest endeavour from visionary director Jared Hess is a bold exploration into the limitless expanses of outer space, and the infinite potential for awkward comedy in human interaction.

To summarize the narrative, Benjamin is a young man who writes a sci-fi novel called "Yeast Lords." When he goes to a teen writer's camp the story is stolen by his favorite author, the inimitable (although you will try) Ronald Chevalier. Before the book is published he is sweet talked into selling the story to a manipulative girl who attempts to make an amateur movie out of the book.

Through the magic technology of special effects (yes, there were special effects) we see the novel unfold on screen. We meet Bronco, the rough-around-the-edges "Yeast Lord" protagonist who is not a Centaur, and does not shapeshift into equine form. Ever. If you thought Avatar was an epic of fantastic adventure, then you have never seen armies of Cyclops and "Surveillance Does" firing massive laser turrets at flying "Battle Stags." Epic.

Bronco, portrayed by Sam Rockwell, delivers some truly hilarious lines of dialog with a completely straight face. If you laughed when Napoleon asked "Do the chickens have large talons?" then you will appreciate Bronco's statement that "I can smell a cache of yeast cakes forty miles off!" The pinnacle of this cinematic saga is Mr. Ronald Chevalier, the pretentious deep voiced author of novels like "Brutus & Balzac," "The Cyborg Harpy Trilogy," and "Moon Fetus." Jemaine Clement (the taller half of the Flight of the Conchords duo) improvises some of the funniest lines. There is a scene where he argues with a twelve year old girl about what to name the Troll in her story. It reminded me of Jack Black in School of Rock, filled with righteous indignation because the students at his private school hadn't heard of Motorhead. While School of Rock had rock music as an easily accessible theme, Gentlemen Broncos plays on the pomposity of science fiction books, something less familiar to many people. If you have read or even browsed science fiction books and marveled at the strangeness of them, you will probably "get" this movie.