Tetrady not as good as all the hype

Brightlyme i know i wasted 90 mins of my life.

Fairaher The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

tarmcgator Cliff Robertson set out to make two films in J.W. Coop (he worked on the screenplay as well as directed and starred), but in this case his effort winds up as only half a good movie.He starts with an interesting premise -- a former rodeo cowboy emerges from prison c.1970, tries to pick up where he left off, and finds that both society and the rodeo game have moved on. The first half of the film is pretty good, dealing with J.W.'s efforts to adjust to his senile mama (Geraldine Page) and to a society where "the kids, the commies, and the unions" (so says one character) are ruining the country.But when J.W. actually starts rodeoing, the picture shifts to an underdog-making-good-in-a-cutthroat-world scenario, as the old cowboy becomes an unlikely dark-horse contender for the national rodeo championship (competing against a younger rider with more corporate savvy). The ending of the film is unsatisfying and leaves us feeling incomplete -- there's more story to be told, but Robertson leaves us to feel sorry for a guy who, frankly, is not beaten down so much by "the establishment" as by his own pride.Also unsatisfying is Page's role in the film. She appears in one scene toward the beginning of the movie, and then she disappears. Maybe that's reality, but art provides the opportunity to inject more of her story and her relationship with J.W. into the film. That opportunity is missed. We do learn some more about J.W.'s family as the film progresses, but there's no closure on his mom-and-pop issues, although I suppose one could argue that the lack of parental comfort has something to do with the end of the movie.Robertson the actor is pretty darned good in this film, capturing J.W.'s initial bewilderment, suspicion and frustration with the '70s, and later his delight at having gained the love of a younger woman (Christina Ferrare). And Robertson the director has a nice eye for small towns and "the sticks" (there's a scene at a rural crossroads that's beautifully shot). But he's undercut by Robertson the screenwriter -- it's just difficult to buy J.W. as a contender for a major championship right out of prison (even if he has been rodeoing successfully there). And the film bites off more than it can chew in trying to comment both on social change and the rodeo life. This could have been a far stronger movie if it concentrated on one or the other -- and, to be honest, the encounter of a '50s guy with the early '70s was the far more interesting part of the film.

moonspinner55 Cliff Robertson co-wrote, co-produced, directed and stars in this unassuming rodeo drama-cum-character study, a movie he personally financed for distribution through Columbia Pictures by keeping costs down and paying most of his actors scale. It's a handsome, occasionally laconic piece of work, crisp and not dawdling, helped immeasurably by Frank Stanley's sometimes good-sometimes brilliant cinematography. The star of a Texas prison rodeo, having just served 10 years in the jug for writing bad checks, is paroled and hits the rodeo circuit, where he works his way up to second-best cowboy (just behind an airplane-chauffeured hotshot who barely has to break a sweat to be number one). Robertson directs himself very well--it is one of his finest performances--though the same can't be said for many of the supporting players, many of whom are real-life rodeo performers portraying themselves. An air of detached amateurism coats the project, with much of the background and sideline action coming off as needless, over-the-top, or just plain sloppy. Still, when Robertson zeros in on a sequence--such as a rough fist-fight in a men's washroom or an idyllic getaway for Coop and his hippie girlfriend--the results can be stunningly effective. Robertson is contemplative and unafraid to allow curious scenes to run their course; Geraldine Page, as Coop's mother, has just one long sequence that doesn't appear to do much for the picture, yet Robertson finds the rhythm in the dialogue and eventually gets to the meditative payoff. I'm not quite sure what the final scene is meant to say, except that "a loner is a lonely man"...still, the artiness which underlines the film's climax is a bit alienating. It doesn't make for a big night at the movies. ** from ****

saebjorn This hard to get, modern western is definitely one of the best film by Mr. Robertson, a fine, underrated actor and director. J.W. Coop, gives a realistic and honest view of a lonesome, luckless but brave man, an ex-con who tries and fails in the rodeo world and is also an underdog in life. Simple, brilliant story with Robertson's flawless acting matched by the late, grand Geraldine Page (as his mom). A fine cameo by the great character actor, R.G. Armstrong, and for the eye, there's the beautiful Cristina Ferrare who disappeared from films to marry Mr. John DeLorean (if somebody remembers the car in Back to the Future films.) So, catch it if you can!

helpless_dancer Excellent story about a cowpoke who wants to be the number one rider in the nation. He worked hard at it, and made his name well known on the circuit, even getting to the point of acquiring his own airplane. A good look at the rodeo from behind the scenes. Near the end was a very graphic scene of a cowboy caught up in the harness of a raging bull. I heard it was not a setup take, but was real footage from a rodeo. I know it made me cringe to watch it. 4 stars.