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2011, 06-09:
Review of film: “BUCK”
When “HORSING-around” becomes a PROFESSION...
... This documentary won an Audience (Choice) award at the 2011 SUNDANCE Film Festival headed by Robert Redford...
... “BUCK” (DAN M.) BRANNAMAN was once the youngest member of the Rodeo Cowboys Association, having gotten his card by age 6½. He and his older brother did ROPING tricks taught to them by their father, and were earning money as kids by doing such routines...
... But, their childhoods were far from ideal: by the time their mother died, their father regularly & secretly would severely BEAT them with whips for presumed “infractions” of his rules and wishes (about their practicing their tricks, etc.)...
... When a teacher chanced to see the whip marks, the kids were put into foster care with a wonderfully warm-hearted family by the time Buck was around 13...
... We learn that & numerous other facts in a fascinating documentary about this unassuming man who made himself into an EXPERT on working with HORSES... The film has the apropos “Tagline” of, “There’s no wisdom worth having that isn’t HARD WON”...
... Director CINDY MEEHL interviews Buck and people who’ve influenced or met him during his life, and fashions an impressive portrait of someone who’s “OVERCOME” numerous obstacles in life...
... Eventually growing up among loving and caring people, Buck eventually was able to overcome his extreme SHYNESS when around others...
... In time, he met a man (RAY HUNT) who was an expert in using gentle (rather than threatening) “natural” ways to TRAIN HORSES, & Buck was thrilled to learn his techniques about working with a horse’s “nature” & getting them to TRUST rather than fear you...
... After much work, Buck reached the point where other people came to “CLINICS” he gave around the country. There, he would teach THEM how to properly train their horses in "RANCH" type work (of “herding” cattle), to “RODEO” type work (lassoeing livestock), to riding & “EQUINE” events (where horses do fancy “dressage” type stepping & jumping)...
... At times, Buck even demonstrates how horses can be used for “THERAPEUTIC” benefits with people (such as the child shown riding in the photo below)...
... If all this might cause you to think of a “Horse Whisperer”, that’s very FITTING, since Buck was the CONSULTANT (and “background” actor) in the making of Robert Redford’s 1998 film of that name. (Redford is one of the many people INTERVIEWED for this film)...
... Buck’s techniques (especially in dealing with “troubled” horses that may have been abused or the like) are so highly regarded, he’s kept busying traveling around the country for like 40 weeks a year in giving his clinics...
... At one point, we see him meet up with his wife MARY (who’s usually at “home” during his travels). She (and others who’ve known him for years) speak of his DEDICATION to trying to better the lives of horses and the people who care for them...
... We also meet his youngest daughter whom he’s taught to both RIDE excellently and to also do trick ROPING during rodeo-type events... There’s even certain times when she & his wife HELP him in his clinics...
... There are numerous scenes where Buck shows us step-by-step how to PROPERLY treat and train horses... Altho you might expect the attendees to be mostly men, if anything, it seems they are mostly WOMEN, such as BRITT LONG (a lawyer who wants to find the best ways to treat her animals)...
... We even see an unmanageable “rogue” type horse, & what Buck tells the female OWNER about that horse & others she owns, & what he does when the horse attacks a man who’d trying to train it so it could be riden...
... During a trip to give one of his clinics (which he often has given for many years at the same places), we are introduced to his foster MOTHER (seemingly in her upper 80’s) whom he’s clearly very deeply attached to, & she tells some anecdotes about him when he was younger...
... At the end of the movie, we see some “historical” photos involving Buck’s life (including a “today” photo of him with his older brother)...
... As the fascinating film progresses, we see how Buck’s gentle spirit was in part a positive reaction to the abuse he had suffered earlier in life. It’s a pleasure to “meet” someone who’s GROWN “BEYOND” his hurt to become an exceptional human being...
... Thus, I’m giving the film (scheduled to be released June 17th) 8.5 out of 10 stars...
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