Review of Gentlemen Broncos (2009) by Name G — 13 Mar 2010

Writer/director Jared Hess is so far someone I'm not too much of a fan of. I did like his cult comedy flick Napoleon Dynamite on initial viewing, but upon further viewings the film has lost some of its luster with me. My problem with Hess is that he tends to fill his movies with some of the most annoying characters imaginable. And the unfortunate part of all of this is that these characters are supposed to be the main reason why these films are supposed to work.

I'm not sure if I would call Gentlemen Broncos the worst film of 2009, but it does have a strong chance to rank among the list of the worst for the year. Hess has a way of giving his films a very limited story, and tries to make up for that with his characters. But I suppose something like Gentlemen Broncos wouldn't have any real space for a solid story, since the overcrowding of stupid characters prevented any chance for a real plot.

The description of Gentlemen Broncos says that it is a movie about Benjamin (Michael Angarano), a huge fantasy story fan who discovers that one of his stories has been stolen by Ronald Chevalier (Jemaine Clements), a novelist that Benjamin idolizes. While this is established early on in the film, it takes until about the final 25 or so minutes of the film for this to really become the main focal point of the Gentlemen Broncos, but still manages not to go anywhere with it. The way the film resolves all of this is one of the most half-assed resolutions that felt more like an afterthought than a real conclusion.

I will admit that there were a total of three, maybe four, things I liked about Gentlemen Broncos. I liked the story that Benjamin wrote, and enjoyed that the film would show the story whenever it was being read. The main character of the tale was played by Sam Rockwell, who was extremely hilarious in his performance. Then there was Jemaine Clement, who was pitch-perfect as Chevalier. The character doesn't develop much, but I felt that Clement was really strong with his performance in the film. Lastly, there was Jennifer Coolidge, as Benjamin's mother, who is charming in that way that Jennifer Coolidge tends to be.

There are a lot of people who will defend the films of Jared Hess, and to them I say more power to ya! So far with Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre and now Gentlemen Broncos I just don't get the appeal. I would argue that both Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre, even their worst parts combined, are far more enjoyable than Gentlemen Broncos. I just don't get how anyone thought this film was a good idea.