The principle of “less is more” applies to many different disciplines and film is no exception. This piece of wisdom is something that writer and director Jake Allyn should have kept in mind for his second written film and directorial debut, Ride. Like his previous No Man’s Land, which Jake’s brother directed, Allyn returns to his home state of Texas in hopes of a warmer reception for his new film. In Ride, Allyn brings a cast of largely unknown faces, including himself to the screen. But the talent and performances of the cast are not an issue — it’s the problems with the story overshadowing the film’s qualities. In fact, Allyn’s previous film featured actors such as George Lopez and Frank Grillo, yet opened to a cold response with reviews mentioning that the story isn’t told well, containing too many different threads that feel disconnected. And Ride falls victim to the same pitfall, with Allyn’s ambitious attempt to integrate various characters and storylines muddling the narrative and diluting the interesting bits he managed to drum up.
It’s difficult to describe the narrative concisely because there are many different threads and it’s not obvious how they all tie together. In short, the film is about a few generations of bull riders who strive to find the money to pay for a young girl’s (Zia Carlock) cancer treatment. The girl’s father is John Hawkins (C. Thomas Howell), a cowboy who naturally feels responsible for finding the cash, who teams up with Peter (Allyn), a recently released ex-con who was incarcerated for killing a girl in a car accident. One way they know to raise cash quickly is bull riding. Peter tries his hand at the rodeo and wins $10,000, but it’s a far cry from the total sum they need. And so Peter considers another avenue – the drug underworld of Stephenville that he knew well before he was imprisoned. As John and Peter get dirty out of desperation, John’s ex-wife and sheriff (Annabeth Gish) find her family pit against her career as she investigates a missing persons case that the two are involved in.
One of the big problems narratively is that Allyn never decides if he wants this to be a crime movie set around the rodeo, or a rodeo movie that involves a crime. The result is that we think the rodeo is the main storyline for the first half, but are left confused when the story switches. In general, Allyn has trouble following a simple storyline and weaves in too many main characters and plot points. Aside from exploring each member of the Hawkins family and co-protagonist Peter, Allyn also spends significant screen time on the Sheriff’s colleagues, shady members of the drug trade, and folks from the rodeo. By introducing so many different characters, Allyn confuses the audience by making it unclear who is important. A similar concept holds true for the story, as the importance of the rodeo is unclear as well. The result is that each scene simultaneously feels like key moment and filler. Allyn succeeds in creating feelings of gravitas, but fails to connect it logically to the broader film, leaving the audience confused and soon bored.
The story is surely the weak point of the film, but some of the stylistic elements are done quite well. For one, Allyn does a good job of creating an authentic Texas setting. Sure, maybe he goes overboard in the number of trucker hats, plaid, denim, guitars, and cowboy hats, but it still feels authentic. And the music lends well to the setting and complements the story. Like the character of Peter, Allyn is on the cusp of two worlds. Whereas Peter rides the line between “heroic cowboy” and “burnt-out ex-con,” Allyn rides the line between being an A and B-movie director. Certain stylistic choices, cliches, and the inability to form a succinct narrative place Ride in B-movie territory. But it never gets too nonsensical or cheesy to fall too far into that camp. If you were to put the movie on as background noise, it could pass as a decent film. But once you pay close attention and try to analyze it as a serious film, the buck stops short.
Photo courtesy of Well Go USA Entertainment
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