Review of Wild Horses (2015) by Leon B — 16 Oct 2015

Review:

I really wasn't expecting that much from this movie but it actually turned out to be quite good. All of the characters brought different elements to the storyline and the whole murder, mystery aspect, made it quite interesting. Robert Duvall (Scott Briggs) plays a wealthy ranch owner who catches his son Ben (James Franco), sleeping with a man, so after an heated argument, Ben decides to pack his bags and leave the family home. The guy that Ben was caught with, goes missing and his mum starts to ask questions about were he might be. After a while she puts her faith in a certain Texas Ranger, Samantha Payne (Luciana Duvall), to find her son or his body so she starts to put all of the pieces together which lead to that night when Duvall found him with his son. While Samantha is busy investigating the mysterious disappearance, Duvall starts to get closer to his family but he knows that he hasn't got long before his whole world comes crashing down on him. There are some other interesting elements to this complex storyline which made it quite enjoyable to watch but its not the type of film that will stick out in my mind. It is just a straight up Texas movie, with people on horses, loads of fields and prejudice galore so it wasn't that original in that aspect but I liked watching the family bond together. I didn't really understand the ending because they could have easily dug up the body to prove his story but that just me being picky. Anyway, it's an interesting movie that is definitely watchable but not a classic. Watchable!

Round-Up:

For a 84 year old man, Robert Duvall can still direct, produce, write and star in a movie better than some of the youngsters. He hasn't quite reached Clint Eastwood's, 85, standard of direction yet but he still has the stamina to do all that work behind and in front of camera. I thought that the script was quite clever because the root of the movie is about family values but there's this backdrop of an investigation which keeps you intrigued. Once the plot unfolds, it's not as straight forward as you think so I have to commend Duvall for not taking the easy root with the storyline. I was surprised to find out that the lady who plays the cop in the movie was actually Robert Duvall's real wife whose from Argentina and 43 years old. You go Duvall! Anyway James Franco was a bit of a weird choice to play his gay son but he put in a good performance, along with the rest of the cast. Duvall also stars in James Franco's movie, In Dubious Battle with Ed Harris, Selena Gomez and Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston so Duvall must have taken the role to return the favour.

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I recommend this movie to people who are into their crime/dramas starring Robert Duvall, James Franco and Josh Hartnett. 4/10.