The Rider

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Georgan G All the non-actors play themselves & are wonderful. Based on a true story of poverty & choices. I watched in awe as the protagonist live-trained a horse. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 03/13/24 Full Review Alec B Zhao wisely sidesteps the inspirational narrative route and sticks to a simpler character study. The results are often poetic, but never pretentious or condescending. The use of untrained actors may be the most interesting choice, it only enhances the film's emotional potency. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/05/24 Full Review Bharat W Best movie of the decade that restored my faith in exceptional filmmaking. It's an audacious achievement by Director Chloe Zhao who ventures into content and territory usually foreign to the modern-day film-watching audience with delicate precision and artistry. She draws cathartic performances out of the characters who are both simple in their external texture as they are deeply dimensional in their humanity and far more original than what Hollywood otherwise produces with their vast budgets. A must-watch for film lovers and a crown jewel achievement in filmmaking by a promising Director still relatively early in her career. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/28/23 Full Review Julie M It's not what I expected, but better. I don't think this film can really be analyzed or critiqued. It's just experienced. It dug in deep and filled me up. It may not be for everyone, but it was for me. A truly wondrous movie. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 10/18/23 Full Review Kyle M Genuine gifted storyteller Chloé Zhao mainly settles for insightful realism under a fictionalized narrative form of a documentary with real people and real stories located rurally. "Nomadland" timely redefine homelessness down to specialized van dwellers starring Frances McDormand and David Strathairn as the only actors experiencing the trip, then her unceremonious leap into "Eternals" became an exception but still details her way of connecting towards the two aforementioned aspects. Going deeper into one of her two earlier works, "The Rider" is considered her breakthrough and a definite independent film because she got personally connected while filming her preceding debut "Songs My Brother Taught Me". "The Rider" is technically inspired by a true story in the Lakota Sioux of the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, reflecting on a tragic riding accident fatally injured the young rodeo cowboy star Brady, whose condition put an end to his riding and competition days. Chloé connected with Brady's story when he said, "If any animal around here got hurt like I did, they'd have to be put down." Horses sadly beyond medical repair go to a heavenly farm rather than suffering with the sudden injury in prolonged misery. For Brady's case, he wonders what else to live for when the purpose he thought he was given turned out lost just for his safety. He attempts to ride and find that sunset with newfound identity when he pursues that "idea on what it means to be a man in the heartland of America." As brilliantly witnessed in "Nomadland" with couple professional actors interacting with real people and learning their preferred mini lifestyle trekking unseen beauty, its spiritually connected predecessor here stars an entire cast of non-professional Lakota actors playing fictionalized versions of themselves. Brady Jandreau pivots the film as the main subject, alongside his family and many of his close friends playing as themselves, along a respectfully thought-out story elaborating his now-fragile passion, subtly tracking about how to truly live. He embodies that modernization of a cowboy hanging up his hat and removes his boots out of reluctant acceptance towards a life restart, thus validating how much this was categorized as a contemporary western. They all performed naturally with sympathetic resonance enabled, as well picking up those nuanced thoughts. Although, just praising their performances is generality when they recognized the narration and just effortlessly moved along the familiar storyline because they lived it similarly and only re-enacted their memories composited slightly alternatively at supportive therapeutic extents. Simply put, they were being themselves, not just as performers. Any other film would probably add more dramatic pressure in favor of generic uplift. That just shows how respectful and realistic Chloé approached Brady's story, justified her connection and faithfully adapted her storytelling aim. Her boyfriend then Joshua James Richards supported her financially, and visually as the cinematographer with correct alignments further respecting those influences being depicted the way they would approve. "The Rider" is overall a unique graceful approach whilst further discovering Chloé's narrative capabilities as a humanely talented filmmaker solidifies both the recommendation and how her films build off of each other, which therefore certifies her as a compelling filmmaker worth attending. (B+) Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 03/31/23 Full Review Chris Z This movie experience is like being a fly on the wall, watching the life of a former rodeo rider disintegrate and yet somehow, he carries on. It doesn't even feel like a movie; it feels like a documentary. It is acted and shot with an authenticity rarely found in modern movies. You can't help but sympathize with a young man who has taken his last curtain call in the rodeo arena, and has no choice but to find meaning in his life in other ways. Touching. Sad. Hopeful. Outstanding. Rated 5/5 Stars •  Rated 5 out of 5 stars 11/25/22 Full Review Read all reviews

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