El jinete eléctrico

In the days when people treated one another with more civility, sound bites (bights) and high-energy opinion didn't rule the political scene, and sensationalism didn't masquerade as being newsworthy, Hollywood's film industry was cranking out fare that didn't placate to the juvenile demographic.

"The Electric Horseman" is a forward thinking film populated with adult actors that have adult sensibilities. There are no quick put-downs and one-liners comprised of single syllable words. And when I say adult, I don't mean the bawdy toilet film making styles that literally pollute the media air.

"The Electric Horseman" is mainstream cinema from the closing era of the 1970s. When people wearing ties and blouses attended the movie house, and did so politely.

In this regard "The Electric Horseman" is a throwback to another era when people had more comport in their personal presentation, and demonstrated an amount of civility and societal understanding. Even so, corporate greed is exposed in the plot, as well as the foibles of a femme-reporteress whose hunger for success shows her inner soul to both character and audience (appropriately played by Jane Fonda).

The stalwart American society is also appropriately reflected in Robert Redford's character, who gives us a character who must rediscover his "awe shucks" self through an act of humanity for the sake of a stricken and exploited living, breathing creature that cannot speak for itself; Rising Star.

Cinematography is professional, as are all elements of this film. No performance is overstated, save for Fonda, but, if I know Pollack, that was intentional. The feminist climbing the media ladder and forgetting her ideals by breaking the rules for the sake of those ideals, is met with the has-been buckaroo who has similarly rediscovered who and what he is.

The romance is standard Hollywood 101, but, though not entirely necessary, is still appropriate, and in this regard, probably satisfying to the audience--men and women alike.

It's not a deep film on a personal level, but it is profound on the character level. We sympathize with the characters and identify with them in a detached manner. They are extensions of us (or what we might've been) were we in those situations.

No flashy cuts, no CGI, no rumbling sound effects, no splashy cinema effects of any-kind, standard lensing, tight scripting, and solid thesping make this film a sight for sore eyes.

Thank you Mister Pollack, Mister Redford... and I'd never thought I'd say it, but, thank you "Mizz" Fonda.

To those people who didn't understand this movie, perhaps they were expecting something other than a simple tale. In this effective movie, Robert Redford plays "Sonny" Steele, a former 5 time rodeo champion who now hocks breakfast cereal for the sinister corporation, Ampco. Although a world champion cowboy, Sonny is no good at selling cereal. When Ampco buys a thoroughbred horse to solidify a merger, Sonny is outraged at how the horse has been mistreated. When he steals the horse in an attempt to set it free & get it back to nature, he is in fact attempting to make right what is also wrong in his own life. Jane Fonda who plays Hallie Martin, a reporter, is also caught up in the hype when she tries to get the story on an exclusive. As she follows his story & his struggle to set the horse free in an appropriate place, she comes to understand Sonny the man. This charm of this movie is its underlying message of a simple life, unfettered by hypocrisy and falseness as the right way to live and the redemptive quality of a man returning to that. Understated directing and a good supporting cast make this a movie worth watching.

OK, first, to the reviewer that suggested "too much Fonda" and would have liked to see Susan St. James or Jennifer Warren in the role of Alice, you are forbidden from ever reviewing again. Fonda was perfect, and more on that later.

Second, this is not about a cowboy freeing a horse who is about to be drugged, as some reviewers have said. The horse was drugged from the beginning. Sonny noticed it, and that was a contributing factor to his subsequent actions.

This movie is about a man who strayed far from who he was, and who sought to find himself again. The horse is metaphoric: it is drugged, exploited, and broken, just like the man. So, the man attempts to find himself, as he helps the horse find itself again, so to speak. And, in the process of trying to report the story, the Fonda character attempts to find herself as well, for she has become neurotic, pill-popping, and uptight in her quest to become a star reporter. And, of course, as they travel the countryside, we find America.

Back to Fonda. Fonda's casting has always been that of the strong but flawed "career" woman, from "Barbarella", to "Klute", to "Electric Horseman". She is independent, doesn't need a man. As the tough and aggressive reporter in personal crisis, she is cast perfectly. St. James has neither the strength nor the necessary equal dose of vulnerability that Fonda can muster. This is about chemistry as well. Redford and Fonda have teamed up before, and the chemistry is proved.

So this brilliant and simple story illustrates and creatively reinforces the the idea of straying from true nature, and the need to find it again.

VERY good film.

I like Pollack. I'm not sure there's anything that I wouldn't at least give a chance, as long as he had an important part in the making of it. This is probably the most formulaic thing I've seen of his... which isn't to say that it's necessarily bad. It's just that, well, if you don't see the majority of what happens in this, coming, the likeliest explanation is that you haven't seen one of the many films that follow essentially the same plot. It's not exactly unpredictable. The points of it are also made in a pretty see-through manner, with poignant speeches and the like. But with those in mind, and the fact that this isn't necessarily meant to be taken too seriously, this isn't bad. The direction is effective. Its editing and cinematography are well-done. The acting leaves little to be desired. The writing is good. The characters are at least average. The music is very fitting. That would be the original version, with Willie Nelson performing it, not the other kind. There is a limited amount of language in it, of varying degree, not a lot of which is terribly harsh. The drug/alcohol material is vague, and the sexuality tends to be tastefully done(for being partially set in Las Vegas, this is mighty clean). I recommend this to any lovers of the four-legged animal, Redford, Fonda and/or anyone else who helped create this. 6/10

Being a great fan of the film's stars, Robert Redford and Jane Fonda, especially back when I first saw it, I found this an entertaining, if not memorable romance, western style.

The story revolves around a former rodeo star named Sonny Steele (Redford) who has been reduced to doing cereal commercials in Las Vegas, all the while lit up in a sort of electrified suit. When he discovers plans are afoot to drug his horse lest it become too adventurous, he rides off into the desert, followed closely by a reporter named Hallie Martin (Fonda). At first, Hallie is simply seeking an exclusive story, but as you can imagine, before too long, the sparks are flying. Meanwhile, other forces are also after the runaway horseman, who just wants to return the horse to nature and himself to a simpler life.

The chemistry here between Redford and Fonda is wonderful, as they share basically an outdoor camping trip. Apart from that, the movie is primarily imparting a message about commercialism in our modern society, especially the evils of using both people and animals for profit. I was interested to read that Robert Redford actually bought for himself the horse, Rising Star, that was used in this film. It isn't any masterpiece, but certainly an entertaining movie that points to the beauties of a simple country life.