Cavalos Selvagens

Those seeking for a detective movie might be disappointed. Wild Horses is first and foremost a family drama, while the investigation part takes secondary priority. It provides solid emotional scenes, mainly thanks to the veteran cast and the personal premise, although the pace is unfortunately slow. It may not appeal to anyone since it will take nearly an hour before the momentum actually builds up, furthermore the crime element is considerably weak.

Story follows the sheriff from small desert town who opens a cold case concerning a missing boy. It happened fifteen years ago, so understandably it rattles some people, especially the Briggs family. It becomes clear early on that Luciana Pedraza as the sheriff is not in the same league as the rest of the cast, which is unfortunate since her perspective, while not in the same volume of the family's, is still crucial to the plot.

Additionally, there is very thin material for the crime aspect, it could have been skimped to minor subplot, yet the movie invests quite a lot on the police angle. The rest of the time is focused on dialogues in the Briggs family. The Briggs are very rich family and very patriarchy, they also harbors a lot of secrets. Duvall plays as Scott, the head of the family and he delivers a very convincing performance. He keeps the interest of his family first, although this might collide with the tragedy of the past.

Josh Hartnett has added depth on his character. He looks straightforward or rigid, but can also be passionately aggressive. The youngest son Ben is played by James Franco and he might be hust the nicest and honest amongst all. Between the three of them the acting is highly presentable, but since the screenplay consists of slow pace conversations, it can be tedious at times.

It has the good intention on delivering very private issue by the perspective of an entire family. However, the inconsistent delivery and tired pacing might not be refined enough to deliver the intended message.

"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.

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 film tells the story of a Texas ranger who opens up a case of a teenage boy who went missing fifteen years ago. This opens up the wounds in a ranch, where the head of the family disowns his gay son.

I did not quite expect "Wild Horses" to be so emotional and touching. On the surface it is about the disappearance of Jimmy Davis, but the other subplot of Mr Briggs and the relationship with his children steals the site. It is almost inconceivable that he would treat two of his children in such a manner. The story also seeks redemption and forgiveness, which makes it even more powerful. It's an unexpected surprise, especially because it's not getting much love from the internet users. I wish more people would appreciate how beautiful this film is.

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.