Review of Gentlemen Broncos (2009) by James M — 04 Mar 2010

I fully expected to not enjoy this film, as the trailer didn't grab me and while I liked Jared Hess' previous films (Napoleon Dynamite, though not nearly as much as some people did, and Nacho Libre), I was not a diehard fan of his or anything and I felt that the law of diminishing returns was kicking in a bit in his films as well.

And I'll even attest the rating might seem a tad high for this film, and perhaps it is, but the reason for it is simple: I laughed really, really hard at this film, not even necessarily because it was funny (which it was for me at several parts), but because it is SO FREAKING WEIRD.

The film is really bizarre, whether it be a robot mammary obsessed sci-fi writer, Sam Rockwell (who steals the movie) as a hick/flamboyant character in a story within a story, a cat that violently attacks throats, or fake deers strapped with missile launchers, the film was so ludicrous it made the whole viewing experience pleasantly surprising and very humorous.

The characters are pretty good here too, but that has been one of Hess' strong points. I also loved the soundtrack; Black Sabbath, The Scorpions, and a great use of the classic "The Year 2525".

This wasn't a brilliantly composed comedy......but it was a very funny one and for that I give it kudos.