BROKE
(director/writer: Carlyle Eubanks; cinematographer: Charlie Sarroff; editor: Glenn Garland; music: John Hancock; cast: Wyatt Russell (True Brandywine), Dennis Quaid (George Brandywine), Auden Thornton (Ali), Johnny Berchtold (Caleb Brandywine), Mary McDonnell (Kathy Brandywine), Tom Skerritt (Cliff Brandywine); Runtime: 100; MPAA Rating: NR; producers: Peter Billingsley, Terry Dougas, David Frigerio, Jack Hearst, Wyatt Russell, John Stalberg Jr., Victoria Vaughn, Vince Vaughn, Paris Kassidokostas-Latsis; VOD/Sony Home Entertainment; 2025)
“The modern-day western is not strong enough to stay on the saddle for too long.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Carlyle Eubanks in his debut feature directs and writes an intimate and melancholy film about a rodeo bronc rider, True Brandywine (Wyatt Russell, son of Kurt and Goldie), who has to face the truth that he has too many injuries to ride again.
True is a taciturn and hard worker on a remote Montana farm owned by his parents, George (Dennis Quaid) and Kathy (Mary McDonnell). He sleeps in the same room as his playful younger brother Caleb (Johnny Berchtold).
True begins dating a nurse (Auden Thornton), who takes him to a doctor after he becomes addicted to pain-killer drugs. The doctor’s recommendation is that his rodeo riding days are over or else he won’t live long.
George was a former bronco rider who pushed his son hard and is disappointed in the way his career has turned out. Their conversations are terse and tense, as dad wants his son to enlist in the Marines.
True is working on the farm when he’s stranded during a freak spring blizzard in a wilderness field, and is trying to survive without any help while reflecting on his life (as seen through many flashbacks). The hope is that he will figure out a way to make his life better.
The slow burn film is atmospheric, well-acted and pleasing to look at. But the dialogue is clunky, and the modern-day western is not strong enough to stay on the saddle for too long.
REVIEWED ON 6/5/2025 GRADE: B-
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