My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

HD has led a life of rodeo-ing and honky tonkin. An injury while bull riding forces him to return home to recupperate. When he gets there he finds that his sister and her idiot husband have put HD's dad into a nursing home and are trying to take the farm. HD's old girlfriend from childhood also comes back into his life and soon HD has to return to bull riding to win the $100,000.00 prize, fend off his sister, keep his dad from the old folks home, and win the love of his life.

This has become one of my most favorite films. I love Scott Glenn and Ben Johnson and this story always brings a tear to my eyes. A must see. Its a bit corny and low budget but damn worth your time.

I am always looking for movies set in Texas/Oklahoma, etc. in modern times (post-cowboy days). I expected this one to be little corny, but I was not prepared for just how bad it was. Even though it had some decent actors, they all did a terrible job or were given a terrible script and direction in this flick. Ben Johnson is one of my all-time favorite actors. Compare this to "The Last Picture Show" and he comes off as a crude redneck with emotions that I'd expect in a kids movie. Characters changed moods and attitudes from one sentence to the next. The arguments were totally irrational and disconnected. Unless you're desperate to watch bull riding and wranglers, don't waste your time with this pitiful movie.

I cannot count the number of movies that I have seen with Scott Glen. But not one of them, with maybe the exception of the role of Alan Shepard in The Right Stuff has stuck with me. I saw him the other night in what I though was an outstanding performance, so I thought I would take another look. I was not disappointed.

Playing a role that many of us have been in, a man with a difficult relationship with his father, Glen (H.D.) really showed the right stuff in this film. he left his father, his high school sweetheart, and all responsibility to do his thing. Now, he is back trying to see if he truly is all hat and no cattle as his girlfriend Jolie (Kate Capshaw) accuses him of being. Complicating the problem is a sister (Tess Harper) that was left with all the responsibility when he left. H.D. has to get it all together to save his father and his relationship with Jolie.

Scott Glen has the right stuff and I will be revisiting a lot of films that I've seen.

"MY Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys" is a very good film due to the fine acting. As for the story, it clearly is secondary.

H. D. (Scott Glenn) is an aging rodeo cowboy who has just gotten beaten up pretty badly by a bull. As a result, he returns home to recuperate. However, his time back home is anything other than relaxing as he has to deal with an aging father (Ben Johnson) as well as renewing an old relationship with an old girlfriend.

The story is not the main focus in the film. Instead, it's much more a character study with some excellent acting, particularly by Glenn and Johnson...though they are provided some amazing support by Clarence Williams III, Tess Harper, Cate Capshaw, Dub Taylor and Clu Gulager. Mickey Rooney is also in the film...but his role is a bit bizarre and unnecessary...much like his role in "Babe: Pig in the City".

As far as the story goes, there are some pluses. I like how the film talks about aging and the subplot involving nursing homes. It's a topic most films completely ignore. But the part that left me cold was the ending...it just seemed a bit arbitrary and nothing really seemed settled by the time the credits rolled. Still, the acting is so good, I can look past this.

Here's a modern Western gem from 1991 that's never been released on DVD.

Scott Glenn plays an injured ex-rodeo rider who returns home a Prodigal Son after years away.

The film follows his complicated relationships with his ex-girlfriend (Kate Capshaw), selfish wealthy brother (a surprisingly excellent Gary Busey playing against type), and aging father, a retired rodeo rider with dementia (real-life champion rodeo cowboy Ben Johnson in a touching performance).

As did many underdog movies of the era, the film awkwardly turns "Rocky"-like toward the end, when Scott Glenn's character mounts his rodeo steed once more for a chance at enough money to keep dad out of the nursing home.

And the end is jarringly abrupt, leaving several plot lines unresolved and questions unanswered.

But those are minor quibbles, when the rest of the movie is just pure joy, watching the characteristically taciturn Glenn navigate from one relationship to the other.

And the movie is peppered with old Western stars like Dub Taylor, to remind you that despite the soap opera drama, this here's a rodeo show at heart.