Cavalli selvaggi

What attracted me to this film was the name Robert Duvall , who is almost certainly America's greatest living character actor . Add to that he also directed WILD HORSES so this looked like a film worth going out of my way to see and while not being a complete waste of time I expected better

In reply to my fellow IMDb peer Arfdawg I agree the actress playing the lead Texas Ranger is rather dreadful . The actress birth name was Luciana Pedraza and is now known as Luciana Duvall . I guess that answers a few questions doesn't it ? Despite having a few other well known names in the shape of Franco and Hartnett most of the story is told via Pedraza/Duvall's female Ranger and she's just not a good enough actress to carry the film and gives a very wooden and stilted performance which becomes annoying . On top of that the film moves at a very slow pace which made me think the director was copying wholesale the Coens' style from NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN . Unlike that film WILD HORSES is far from compelling and feels like two separate stories , one featuring a crime drama and one featuring a angst ridden family drama stuck together in a rather unsatisfying manner and means we're left with an unsatisfying film

This is a film done by a man who has been in film business longer than a lot of us have been alive. His style is old school and you have to pay close attention to the storyline and smaller details because they reveal a lot about it toward the end. Also, it's a modern western and you have to go into this film with an appreciation for the western genre. Without a doubt, Duvall, and Franco carried the film along with Hartnett, but I think it would've been beneficial to see more of him. There were a few continuity issues and plot holes but every film has those issues. Granted, I'm a huge fan of both Duvall and Franco so I enjoyed watching the film. It's definitely a story you have to watch with an open mind.

"Don't ever forget the obvious. Those clues will lead you to where you need to be." Scott Briggs (Duvall) is a rancher who comes home and finds something he doesn't like. His emotions get the better of him and something terrible happens. 15 years later an investigator shows up and begins to ask questions about his past. Now Scott is forced to try and hide the truth from everyone while trying to help his family. First and foremost this is a good movie. That said Duvall is starting to fall into the legend trap. By that I mean he is really doing a characteture of himself in every movie lately. He is still great but the person he plays in Night in Old Mexico and this one is pretty much the same person. That is not a bad thing, but it also takes away from the personalization of the movie. Also much like Night in Old Mexico this is not a western even though the cover seems like it is. All that said, the movie is very good and if you liked Night in Old Mexico you will like this as well. Overall, an enjoyable movie to watch, but Duvall really seems to be phoning in every one of his performances lately. I give this a B.

I haven't seen any of the other films Robert Duvall has written or directed. There aren't many of them and there's possibly a very good reason for this. The man is a very fine actor, no one could deny that, but perhaps writing and directing are simply not for him if 'Wild Horses' is anything to go by. The script in particular is an absolute mess. The dialogue often feels like it's been written for a 5 year-old and by a 5 year-old. The story is told in incredibly clunky fashion and none of the intended 'heavy' scenes have any effect whatsoever on the audience.

The directing is not much better. The actors all look completely lost in every scene. There's some very strange casting with the likes of Josh Hartnett and James Franco, but the strangest of all was Luciana Pedraza. She was so unbelievably bad in her performance I had to look up her IMDb profile just to see who exactly the hell she was - only to find she was in fact Duvall's sister-in-law, sigh! I can't imagine any other filmmaker being willing to cast her and yet I notice Duvall also cast her in his 2002 film 'Assasination Tango'. Perhaps he just makes a film every ten years or so with a role written specifically for her so she can pay some bills. Who knows, but it's really not a good look. An awful performance in an awful film. Nothing to see here.

The first part of the film was a little erratic, jumping abruptly from one situation to another. Not sure if that was intentional or if editing created continuity issues.

Also in the beginning some of the minor actors seemed to be quite literally reading their lines from a teleprompter that wasn't keeping up.

If you stuck with it, things did improve. Duvall both starred in the film and wrote it. He was, as always, excellent and I'm impressed that he (apparently?) came up with the story idea. Possibly he personally had some past demons he wished to put to rest.

It deals with a Texas rancher coming to terms with changing times, a need to address past wrongs and an attempt to reconstitute a family that his attitudes and behavior had torn apart. His efforts are not entirely successful in many ways and yet may have been the catalyst for some painful healing nonetheless.

James Franco was quite good. His acting is so much better when Seth Rogan is not involved. Maybe a hint of James Dean dealing with father-son alienation but with more understated drama. Josh Hartnett was also excellent.

It is not really a feel-good sort of movie, but there is a comforting sense that some things are changing for the better no matter how painful the process.