Veteran director Tay Garnett helms this very slight story in which Brandon DeWilde -- the kid from SHANE -- gets to exhibit hero worship, this time for real life rodeo star Casey Tibbs. Mr. Tibbs can't act for beans and Master DeWilde can't manage more than one emotion, but Garnett ekes out this run-away-and-join-the-rodeo piece with some nice shots of a rodeo in action.
Everything about this piece is well done, but it doesn't add up to more than the sum of its parts and occasionally you can see the calculation of sentimentality showing through. I'm all in favor of sentiment and happy endings, but the slightness of the story and the straightforward manner in which it is told is not particularly engaging. The result is adequate, but no more.
Everything about this piece is well done, but it doesn't add up to more than the sum of its parts and occasionally you can see the calculation of sentimentality showing through. I'm all in favor of sentiment and happy endings, but the slightness of the story and the straightforward manner in which it is told is not particularly engaging. The result is adequate, but no more.