Cowboy Up

Rating:
Summary: a simple twist of fate
Review: I enjoyed seeing other dimensions of Darryl Hannah, Kiefer Sutherland and Molly Ringwald. The experience was like looking into a parallel dimension. I also enjoyed learning about the world of bull riding (even if fictionalized). In my opinion the star is Marcus Thomas whose performance makes the show a lot more than Hollywood Does Country. I also enjoyed the little touches of country living authenticity like Connie's home and the ranch. The pace of the story let me take in all the details. There's enough bull riding, fighting and intrigue for variation. I enjoyed the slow motion. I've watched TV bull riding events and it's over too fast to really see anything. I recommend this for couple viewing. A nice romance, a good ending and some necessary roughness. Oh, and good music.

Rating:
Summary: Animal lovers and easy cryers DO NOT watch this movie
Review: I highly reccomend that you DO NOT watch this movie if you are an animal lover, or an easy cryer. There is death in this movie, and VERY dramatic parts. In less you have pretty tough eyes to keep them on the screen, I would reccomend that you do not watch this. I had to run out of the room at one part of the movie, come back in, watch a while, and leave again at the end. It is not an easy movie to watch, and does not have a happy ending. I think that maybe if you do not think that you shouldn't watch this movie, maybe watch Pure Country or something. Just not this. I was just putting out a word for everyone before they watched this HORRIBLE movie.

Thanks,
Jan

Rating:
Summary: Awesome Rodeo Movie
Review: I highly recommend this movie. It is really good and the two main characters are Hot. I love Ely !!!! This movie has it all, the ups, the downs, and the dramas of rodeo. It can be sad at times, funny at times, and exciting at times. IF you haven't seen it yet, you REALLY need too !!!!!

Rating:
Summary: the ending of Cowboy Up
Review: The ending was sad but at least Marcus Thomas didn't die. Marcus Thomas was the cutest in the movie though.

Rating:
Summary: Two brothers, one bull
Review: The marketers positioned this movie as a love triangle between sibling rodeo cowboys (Kiefer Sutherland and Marcus Thomas) and a girl (Daryl Hannah), which is about as wide of the mark as missing the broad side of a barn. The key character who drives these brothers apart is their father, a champion bull rider, long retired, and long absent from their lives, played terrifically in a cameo performance by British actor Pete Postlethwaite. The old man gave all his attention to the one who took after him and scorned the other, who had the more tender heart. Then he left home, at the wrong end of a shotgun, pointed at him by the boys' mother, played wonderfully by Melinda Dillon. But his impact continues to be felt.

Both boys grow up to become bullriders, like their father. Only one (Sutherland) opts out and turns his talents to being a rodeo clown (bull fighter) and raising rodeo stock, specifically a fierce bull that no cowboy can ride. Like the old man, the bull does his damage, but not before one of them has suffered a near-fatal accident after being named Rookie of the Year and then returns to the circuit against the wishes of brother, mother, and girlfriend (Molly Ringwald). Celia (Daryl Hannah), a barrel racer figures in there rather briefly as one of several things that estrange the two brothers. There's also pill popping, groupies, and angry outbursts. The two men are finally reunited and reconciled at the national bullriding finals in Las Vegas.

From what I know of rodeoing, and it's not extensive, the representation of life on the circuit is pretty accurate. The slow motion photography used to heighten the dramatic tension during the rides is realistic only if you think of it from the perspective of the riders themselves, for whom eight seconds can surely seem close to an eternity. There's some depth to the script, and scenes are played in a way that let the characters seem more three-dimensional than your usual cowboy-hero movie. Sutherland, in fact, is interesting to watch as a self-conscious man who goes all clumsy around a woman he'd like to impress. Thomas needs only to look lean, a little haunted, and good in a pair of wranglers to convey the troubled, driven man who cannot stay away from a sport that has already nearly killed him. And he does all that nicely.

Compared to a rodeo movie like "8 Seconds," about real-life bullrider Lane Frost, this one is not so predictable, a little grittier, less sentimental, and it doesn't go overboard in glamorizing rodeo. Here, for instance, the lovers split up and stay that way. In Garth Brooks words, "that damned old rodeo" takes its toll on everyone.

Rating:
Summary: Good movie, but a little hard to explain
Review: This is a good movie, yet it is kinda hard to explain. I will admit that this in not a movie for those of you who always need tissues during an emotional flick. A great supporting cast makes for a good performance though. So if you are the cowboy type or like rodeo movies then i would suggest watching this.

Rating:
Summary: Not great
Review: This movie could had been better had it offered an interesting story and better acting. The only one into this project is Keifer Sutherland. The others basically coast through their parts. Darryl Hanna is virtually non-existent and Molly Ringwald does not have much to do. The ending makes no sense either. It does give you some sense of how hard (insane) the whole bull riding thing is but that does not make up for the film's serious defects. I want my 100 minutes back.

Rating:
Summary: great cowboy movie
Review: This movie was great in my opionion.It deals with every aspect of being in a rodeo and being a cowboy. I love this much as much as 8 Seconds.Their both great! The ending is VERY sad and yes I shedded some tears....if you can't handle seeing some extremely saddening part this movie isn't for you.

Rating:
Summary: COWBOY UP DVD REVIEW 09/07/02
Review: Well the long awaited release of this movie has come and gone with little recognition other than a few rodeo related websites. The movie is the best portrayl of bull riding by hollywood I have seen. I do feel like the film walks an edge with some of the lingo they use, but its as close to the real thing as I've seen.
The plot is alright yet the charicters are fairly deep. As far Marcus Thomas goes playing Ely Braxton, he lacks a real believable connection as a bull rider. He comes across as an un inspired, directionless, careless, dare devil with no real reason to ride bulls other than to irrate those around him.
Kiefer Sutherland gives a good performance as the older bullfighter brother Hank Braxton. Molly Ringwald is good as the girlfriend of Ely.
Overall the movie is good. The action shots with bulls is alright and the pace of the movie is slow but not boring. As far as true-to-the-sport goes it gets pretty close, yet has enough to keep the un-intiated entertained.
If you don't mind spending about [price]on it, its a good movie, but if your expecting to get a masterpiece, save your money.

Rating:
Summary: Bull Snot in Slow Motion
Review: While watching this movie I got the impression that bulls move very, very slowly... but then I realized it was just slow motion photography. Lots of s l o w m o t i o n p h o t o g r a p hy . So much slow motion I almost fell alseep. After the movie I found myself moving around the house very slowly, so hypnotized I was by this director's excess usage of slo-mo. However, the sight of all those glistening strings of bull snot arching in slow motion across the screen ultimately kept me awake. My advice is skip this dumb movie and go see a real rodeo in real time. It'll keep you awake.