SincereFinest disgusting, overrated, pointless

PiraBit if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Phillipa Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Leofwine_draca JUNIOR BONNER marks a change of pace for western director Sam Peckinpah; it's one of the few films he made suitable for family viewing. Steve McQueen stars as an ageing rodeo rider who returns home to once more compete on the circuit, taking time to romance a beautiful woman and falling out with his family members in the meantime. The only real way you can tell this is a Peckinpah movie is in the lovingly-captured slow-motion bull-riding scenes. The rest is rather middling, as it turns out; McQueen is a good actor, there's no denying that, but his character doesn't have much to do here. This is primarily a slice of life drama rather than anything else, and other than a few volatile moments featuring the reliable Joe Don Baker, little of note occurs.

James Hitchcock Sam Peckinpah said of this film "I made a film where nobody got shot and nobody went to see it." This was a reference to its failure at the box office and to Peckinpah's own reputation as a director of violent action films. Audiences went to see "Junior Bonner" assuming that it was going to be something like "The Wild Bunch" or "Straw Dogs" (an assumption strengthened by the presence of Steve McQueen, well known as an action hero from films like "Bullitt") and left disappointed when it turned out to be nothing of the sort. (McQueen was to make a second film with Peckinpah in 1972, "The Getaway", which proved to be a much greater success at the box office).The title character is an ageing rodeo rider (McQueen was 42 at the time) who returns to his home town of Prescott, Arizona to take part in the annual Independence Day rodeo and to see his family. Although there are some action sequences featuring the rodeo competition itself, the film is primarily a study of character and family relationships.There were a number of films with a rodeo theme in the 1970s, most of which I have not seen, but one which struck me as having similarities with "Junior Bonner" is Sydney Pollack's "The Electric Horseman" from seven years later. Both films explore the contrast between the traditional values of the West, with its emphasis on self-sufficiency and a code of honour, and the more money-obsessed values of modern capitalism. (This can also be seen as one of the themes of Peckinpah's "The Wild Bunch"). In Pollack's film the main character, played by Robert Redford, is a retired rodeo star who has a lucrative contract advertising breakfast cereals for a big corporation but who has become a broken-down alcoholic, bored with his life and resentful of his loss of independence; eventually he rebels against his corporate sponsors.Here the conflict arises within Junior's own family. His younger brother Curly is a successful entrepreneur and real-estate developer, but despite (or perhaps because of) Curly's success the two brothers are not close- in fact they actively dislike one another. Near the beginning of the film we see Curly bulldozing the old family home in order to build a new housing development on the site. The distance between the brothers' values is perhaps best summed up by Curly's line "I'm working on my first million. You're still working on eight seconds" (that being the length of time a rodeo rider must stay on the bull). Like Pollack, Peckinpah saw the rodeo rider as one of the last remaining symbols of the traditional West.Junior is much closer to his father, Ace. (All the male members of the family seem to be known by their nicknames). Although Ace is something of a scoundrel, unsuccessful in business and a womaniser who is separated from Junior's mother, Junior sees him as something of a kindred spirit. The film ends with Junior using his winnings from the competition to buy his father a ticket to Australia, Ace having long dreamed of emigrating to that country to rear sheep and mine gold.There is some very good acting in the film, especially from McQueen, and as in a number of Peckinpah's films there is also some striking photography. It is one of those films where almost every shot seems to be carefully composed, like a painting, and Peckinpah is able to make the most unlikely subject-matter seem lyrical- even the scenes of the bulldozers demolishing the family home. Similarly, in "Convoy", made several years later, he was able to find a balletic quality in scenes of a long line of trucks crossing the desert. That film can also be seen as a modern-day Western in which it is truck drivers rather than rodeo riders who take on the role played by cowboys in traditional Westerns.Some have criticised "Junior Bonner" as being too slow-moving, and there may be some justice in that criticism. Nevertheless, despite its initial failure it still has its admirers and, in my view, goes to show that Peckinpah was something more than a specialist in violent action but also a director who could handle well more reflective character-driven drama. 7/10

ma-cortes A modern-day Western, Junior Bonner is a director Sam Peckinpah's lovely effort, feeling look at the world of the rodeo. Steve McQueen, engagingly easygoing but obstinate , is the title character, a rodeo rider out to win a big bull-riding competition in his hometown called Prescott. The rodeo champion works rodeo circuit contest , as the has-been rodeo star trying to make it big again. McQueen is a drifter who returns his small town and he strives to preserve his values in an often harsh modern world. McQueen decides to raise money for his father's journey towards Australia by challenging a formidable bull whose owner is Ben Johnson.Peckinpah's slow-motion camera , his usual trademark,is put to particularly nice utilization shooting the balletic movement of the rodeo, at once more splendidly and awe-inspiring than any gun battle. An enjoyable country-western , Junior Bonner is lovely directed by Sam Peckinpah as an elegiac perspective at the world of the rodeo . Steve McQueen turns in an excellent acting as a drifting rodeo star who is searching in a changing world for values that have long time disappeared. He also must deal with his feuding parents, and selfish brother wonderfully performed by Robert Preston, Ida Lupino and Joe Don Baker. Robert Preston is particularly fine as the old veteran, he and Ida Lupino strike real sparks. Furthermore, it contains an emotive score by Jerry Fielding , Peckinpah's usual, and colorful cinematography by Lucien Ballard. An agreeable country-western with marvelous interpretations and exciting rodeo footage including slow-moving images and a much quieter movie than habitual from ¨Cross of Iron¨,¨The getaway¨, ¨Wild bunch¨ , ¨Major Dundee¨ director Sam Peckinpah.

Neil Doyle The plot for JUNIOR BONNER is so simplistic you could just use the brief description offered by TCM and you have the whole story in a nutshell: "An aging rodeo rider returns home for a comeback and discovers that his parents are separated." STEVE McQUEEN is the rider and JOE DON BAKER is his more successful brother with other plans.He also discovers that he and his brother don't see eye to eye on how to build a future. His brother has some real estate plans on his mind while he's content to keep at the rodeo circuit as long as he's able to ride a horse. Naturally, they argue and fight throughout the story.There's plenty of background flavor but absolutely nothing much going on in the plot department. A weak sub-plot involving his estranged parents (ROBERT PRESTON and IDA LUPINO) is no help. Both of them are wasted, particularly Lupino who has little to do. BEN JOHNSON is another wasted cast member.If Fourth of July rodeos out west are your thing, along with occasional barroom brawls, you may find something to enjoy in this really dull Steve McQueen enterprise where he's determined to follow his destiny along a lonely path. He looks tired and says little as the aging rodeo rider, giving one of his most laconic performances.Summing up: A Sam Peckinpah film that is nothing to shout about.