National Anthem

I loved watching Charlie Plummers character discover parts of himself he didn't know where there. I smiled through most of this movie, it's a sweet portrayal of a first love and heartbreak. The soundtrack was incredible, done by Nick Urata from the band Devotchka. I found myself Shazamming almost every song. I'd love to get it on vinyl.

Where does this place exist? I want to go to a queer rodeo! Somewhere where everyone can safely be who they want to be. It was refreshing to watch people existing instead of living in fear of someone else's disapproval. Can we move towards a world like this? Where people mind their own business?

So many things could have gone wrong in the film. But the humanistic approach in the performances, direction and story makes this film worthwhile as we see a young man learn to find his place in this world. Charlie Plummer as Dylan carries the film on his shoulders. He has screen presence even if his character has a subdued personality at first as we see he becomes a stronger, confident and even more empathetic man over the course of the film. Many will call this a LGBTQ+ movie but it is more than that. There is no coarseness, cockiness or irritating over-the-top histrionic behavior by any the actors. There is a respect among the characters as they relate to each other that will engross and help you understand them. Charlie's home life could have felt like a simplistic TV movie of the week. But director Luke Gilford and screenwriters Kevin Best, David Largman Murray as well as Gilford care about the characters too much to let that happen and they show why, for example, in Charlie's household that despite their problems as a family they are able to live in the same home with care and understanding. His mother played by Robyn Lively is not the stereotypical struggling mother. How she relates to Charlie and his younger brother and how she conducts herself is a revelation that pays off towards the end of the film. The biggest surprises and unexpected moments come when Charlie is hired to work on a ranch for a couple of weeks. He has been working odd jobs to help his family and save up for an RV. That RV is his dream and Plummer pulls us in to his character where we hope his wish for that RV comes true. The ranch job enables him save more money but the job becomes a life experience as he meets a cast of memorable characters. He is enchanted by Sky who lives on the ranch and is beautifully performed by Eve Lindley. She becomes a mentor to Charlie to help him be comfortable in his skin and proud of who he is. She is also a spark in his sexual awakening. Mason Alexander Park as one the inhabitants of the ranch sparkles with a knowing conviction in pivotal moments to guide Charlie. Even Rene Rosado in a supporting role avoids the conventional expectation of a rancher whose character takes an unpredictable path. This film is one of the most original in its storytelling among recent films with one of the finest ensembles so far this year.

Dylan is a 21-year-old loner, saving money to buy an RV. He lives with his younger brother Cassidy, and his harried (financially and otherwise) mother, his father having abandoned the family. Dylan works as a casual laborer, hanging around an area with other men waiting to be picked up for a day's worth of work, often in construction.

Along comes Pepe, owner of a distant ranch, who hires several of them for 2 weeks' work. There, Dylan becomes enamored with Sky, a beautiful woman with a horse. Sky invites his to a rodeo, which turns out to be a gay rodeo, complete with evening entertainment of line dancing and drag shows. There, certain people find their version of "The Amrican Dream". Here is where Sky thinks Dylan can find "his people". Indeed, Dylan ends up staying at the ranch for a while, and even brings Cassidy along when their mother had other plans.

While this is a good introduction to a gay subculture, I am dubious about how flexible Dylan is to sexuality and sexual expression. After a specific early scene of Dylan imaging Sky on her horse, it seems too fast a jump for him to participate in a pansexual orgy. Also, Dylan seems too easy to convince to perform in a drag show, and does too well in lip-synch-acting for a rookie. Meanwhile, Sky is puzzling - she seems to be played as a male-to-female trans person, but just looks too gorgeous.

Side note: This is supposed to be present day, despite the very old RV Dylan is shopping for. I saw a flash of the newer progress pride flag.

There were things i liked and things i was like holy canolli what type of ranch is this? A movie for the instagram generation. But with the self absorbed free hippy love-in cult semantics, and a few other issues, I found this film hard to swallow. It was a snore-fest even with all the fabulosity and Rupaul's Dragnation it felt like a party where you look around and think I need to find the exit pronto. It's glacier pace lost me and the hyped up Group love-in i knew this was just messy bunch i would not want to roll with let alone give my time. A ranch of able bodied people living ther, and they need Mexican day workers while trans women walk around in flowing dresses doing Sweet FA. WTF? The stiff acting and laughing about a traumatic issue, making light of being kicked out of a family. This isn't a must see, not even a must stream. The soundtrack was nice. However, It's a big fat I DON'T THINK SO HONEY for me.

A queer film about growing up and awakening. The plot is a bit barren, but it constructs a wonderful queer Eden in the red soil of the American outback. There is no homophobic violence or discrimination. Everyone can be themselves and enjoy an open sex life and fluid sexual orientation. Maybe it is too beautiful and gives me a distorted illusion? Huang Zitao recently said something in his variety show, "Tolerable Love," which is enough to make people laugh, but it always reminds me of Charlie's increasingly vivid character personality in various film and television works over the years: always a little silent, suppressing his thoughts or just looking at one place melancholy. Six years after "Jockey Pete", he reinterprets his relationship with a land; even though the settings of the two films are very different, he can still find the qualities he was first seen in. Tolerable Love.