The Mustang

"The Mustang" is a heartfelt emotional drama that shows how connection and exploring and experiencing interactions can help a person. The tale is of a prisoner in rural Nevada who struggles to escape his past only to be helped and treated in a new social program. This involves training a stubborn Mustang named Marcus. Look for some good work from veteran Bruce Dern as a veteran trainer and other fellow inmates assist in this new program. All of this is a new heartfelt connection of hope and a challenge and chance to be a better person, something that all should take to.

Triumphs of the human spirit constitute perhaps cinema's most enduring story material, and this French film shot in Nevada brings a powerful existentialist message to the viewer without the preachiness one might expect of an American movie on the subject.

Matthias Schoenaerts, his shaven head and rock-solid physique suggesting a Vin Diesel, is magnificent in the lead role, a convict without hope or direction paralleled with the title wild horse he's tasked to train for sale to police departments or ranchers in a prison program run by craggy old Bruce Dern. Connie Britton makes the most of her two scenes as a prison psychologist working on rehabilitation.

Most of the cast is non-pro, actual prisoners from such a program giving solid performances for debuting feature director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre. Echoes of "The Myth of Sysiphus" and other existential writings underpin the action, but Laure carefully makes it a visual cinematic experience, not one of those 1950s Playhouse 90 classics from TV's Golden Age. Free of sentimentalism, it also keeps the melodramatic subplot involving chicanery and violence in prison to an absolute minimum, and is a wholly satisfying movie with universal appeal.

The story is great in terms of the human element. It is both beautiful and painful.

As a horse owner, I just couldn't get past how 100% ridiculous the actual horse stuff was. I loved that they used some participants in the program as actors, but the way they dramatized it left a really bad taste in my mouth. Viewers could have learned something about horses - even something basic like pressure and release - but instead what they were shown was that "anyone" can start a wild mustang with zero experience and everything will work out fine in 12 weeks. Not a single helmet in the entire film. Face palm.

Seven stars because I know I have to forgive the horse stuff and focus on what the film was actually about.

Animals in Prisons ... a good idea? I would say yes - and there are apparently studies that confirm that it helps those incarcerated. Horses are symbols of freedom so this is not even a subtle attempt that is being conveyed to the viewer. But one that is very well done.

Robert Redford produced this and I reckon it is just another reminder of how (socially) active he is. Yes he is not just a good looking boy (he'll be forever young, no matter his current age), but one that uses his fame and his power to do something good. And I would say if at least some people watching this realize the potential - the good it can do to have programs like this in prisons ... it hopefully will help in the long run.

Now while that all may sound nice and dandy, there is also a lot grittiness, a lot of violence ... it is a prison after all. So do not be surprised if this does not hold back punches .. or stabs for that matter. The ending .. almost poetic though! Could not have been a better one ... and then the text about different states and statistics.

I wasn't going to write a review since many better reviews have been written but then I saw some very negative reviews which were way off base. This is not a kid's movie, not a comedy, not a rom-com. It's hard nosed and sometimes tough to watch but it is, imho, a very good movie and better than 3/4s the movies that were released in the same time period. The producer was Robert Redford. Bruce Dern is one of the supporting actors. That should get your attention. It was filmed on site at an amazing facility. It is true that it can make you feel uncomfortable but there are moments of true transcendency. I think everything tends to be subjective but I think this movie deserves every chance it can get to be seen. Disregard the negativity, it is a very good movie.