While I’ve been a resident of Texas almost my entire life, I’m just a tiny bit ashamed to say, I don’t know as much of the culture as I should. I will defend the food with every fiber of my being from any out-of-state nay-sayers. Oh sure, I went to a couple of rodeos as a child, but really didn’t understand what was going on. Other than that, I’m a poor excuse of a Texan by all accounts. I wonder why it bothers me so much, then, that I can’t think of too many modern films that are objectively “Texan” in both setting and culture. Perhaps I’m just not looking? But with the exception of No Country for Old Men, I can’t think of too many films that scream to me “this can only take place in Texas!” And even harder to find, north Texas.
Well of course, many independent filmmakers hailing from Texas aim to change that. Why shouldn’t the 2nd largest U.S. state in both size and population get more media representation? One very notable “Texan” film that has recently been released is Ride, written, directed, and co-starring Jake Allyn. Taking place in the rodeo hub town of Stephanville, Texas (just southeast of Fort Worth), the film follows the Hawkins family as they cope with the cancer condition of their young daughter, Virginia. Her father, John (C. Thomas Howell) is desperate to move her to a better hospital to give her a fighting chance at survival but struggles to make even one down payment of the astronomical cost. In the meantime, his stepson Peter (Jake Allyn) has just been released from prison, serving for manslaughter because of driving under the influence. Well, it turns out Jake is a skilled rodeo bull rider, and fights to get back on the saddle to earn prize money to save his sister. Unfortunately, his substance addiction, as well as his connections with shady people, may impede his efforts.
One thing I’ll say about Ride, it definitely didn’t go anywhere I expected it too, both in terms of plot and genre. I expected it to be a heartwarming family film about getting in touch with one’s roots and sticking together…and lots of rodeos. What I got was, well that, but a bit more than I bargained for in terms of suspense and crime drama. For me, it’s almost always a positive when a film takes me in a different direction. I don’t want to see a 1 minute trailer and be able to predict it just from that.
Besides its unpredictability, there’s quite a few great things about this film. The acting performances were stellar. It’s been quite a long time since C. Thomas Howell made me cry as “Ponyboy” from The Outsiders, but his talent with dramatic acting has only improved with age. I also didn’t know he was a former child rodeo star himself, so he’s perfect for the part of a retired bull rider. As far as Jake Allyn goes, I’ve always got to hand it to someone who can write, direct, and act at the same time with even moderate success. I felt his portrayal as “Peter” was subtle, yet effective. He was really one of those characters you don’t necessarily love, but you do root for them to become better people. Not to mention his physical prowess on a bull was impressive.
Visually, for what I assume as a smaller budget film, it was impressive. The shots were beautifully framed and crisp, the action easy to follow. It really goes to show that these days, it takes more skill to make a good looking film, rather than a large budget.
For all of its charming qualities, there are many small criticisms I have for Ride. One of the key ones is the editing. While I will definitely say the style made the film more interesting in some aspects by adding additional dramatic flair and keeping the pace from being too slow, it was also very confusing at times. Certain scenes feel a bit cut short. And they are intercut with parts that add to the mood but tell us very little, other than symbolism.
That gets me to one of my other major complaints which was the writing. While the dialogue was fine enough, I just feel like overall I was stuck wondering exactly what was happening for too long into the film. I know the general rule is to “show, don’t tell”, but I felt sort of a lack of either. Instead of trying to enjoy the plot, I spent a little too long trying to figure out just how everyone was related to one another, and what kind of baggage they carry to make them act this way. Maybe a few more flashbacks would have done well sprinkled throughout the film, just for the sake of context. While I did appreciate all of the symbolism throughout the movie, it would have meant far more if 50% of my brain wasn’t desperately looking for context.
I will say, I was happy to watch an overall decent movie such as Ride, while being able to relate just a bit more with the setting and micro-culture representation. I may be a city slicker Dallasite kind of Texan, but this film definitely gave me a twinge of pride that North Texas can really have some interesting stories to tell if we really look for them.
