I don't know what to say about this movie. The first hour and ten minutes were REALLY slow and boring. Twenty minutes in I kept asking myself, "am I going to watch this thing?"
Then right at the 1:10 marker when Pauly said to Dean "don't ask questions Dean" it turned around, and became a good warm hearted comedy.
From there on, it was pretty good. If the whole movie was like that I'd rate it way higher. But watching a snooze fest for an hour and ten minutes isn't redeemed by 15 minutes of a good ending.
So, in the end, it wasn't even average, it was boring, then pretty good. I think a rating of 5 stars is generous.
Plot summary
An ex-con returns to his rural Ontario roots and outwits a corrupt and wealthy thoroughbred owner trying to take over a slew of local farms. Ray Dokes, a charming ex-ballplayer, returns from jail to discover the rural landscape of his childhood transformed by urban development. Determined to stay out of trouble, Ray heads to the farm of his old friend Pete Culpepper, a crusty Texas cowboy who trains losing racehorses and whose debts are growing faster than his corn.
Uploaded by: FREEMAN
March 25, 2023 at 09:23 PM
Director
Top cast
Tech specs
720p.WEB 1080p.WEBMovie Reviews
First 1:10 were boring, last 15 minutes were good.
flat directing
Ray Dokes (Luke Kirby) leaves prison to find most farms back home have been bought up by old nemesis bully land developer Sonny Stanton (Noam Jenkins). He starts working for poor old friend Pete Culpepper (Keith Carradine) on his horse farm. Ray's former love Etta Parr (Lisa Ray) refuses to sell to Sonny. Chrissie Nugent (Rachael Leigh Cook) is Pete's wild drunken jockey. Sonny is in gambling debts and has a thoroughbred stolen.
The film looks flat. Luke Kirby doesn't have big screen charisma. Nobody comes off looking good and I put most of it on director Leonard Farlinger. The performances are tired and weary. There is no energy. The movie has some great actors but they are either secondary or they struggle in the haze. The character Ray isn't good to root for either. He's screwing Chrissie right away but we're suppose to root for his star-crossed love for Etta. There are also a few too many side stories to the movie. The story has some potential but it's not realized here.