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Buck

Presented by The Colonial Theatre at The Colonial Theatre

August 5-August 18, 2011

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"When the soulful cowboy philosopher Buck Brannaman talks, people — and horses — listen. The aw-shucks star and one of the two-legged attractions in the documentary Buck, Mr. Brannaman is a former trick rope performer who, after a childhood of pain, became something of a shaman and an inspiration for the novel and movie The Horse Whisperer.

He doesn’t just talk to the animals; he also transforms snorting, bucking horses into companions who follow his lead without a tether and even join him in a graceful meadow duet. A not-so-simple story simply told, Buck was directed by Cindy Meehl, a fashion designer turned artist who, after meeting Mr. Brannaman in 2003 at one of his clinics, decided to make a movie about him, her first. Finding a great subject can be half the battle in documentary, and in Mr. Brannaman she discovered one who holds your attention and heart for a tight 88 minutes. From the moment he gets on his horse ('Well, I’m off to the office') and through the hushed interludes and excursions down highways and into the past, he keeps you rapt. Nonhorse people may find themselves as wowed by Mr. Brannaman’s techniques as the lifelong horsewoman I know who, mid-viewing, blurted out, 'No way!' Way! Or maybe that should be the Way of the Horse, so Zen-like is Mr. Brannaman’s approach." — Manohla Dargis (The New York Times)

Directed by Cindy Meehl. 2011. 88 min. Sundance Selects. 35mm.