Wooly Boys

I enjoyed this film. It showed how a young city boy grew up and faced life, from being a spoilt brat he turned out to be a man of decisions and courage.The two main men in the film played there parts with feeling and i could belive in them.

Released to2001, "Wooly Boys" stars Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson as two aging sheep ranchers in the Badlands of North Dakota. After the former pays a visit to his daughter (Robin Dearden) in Minneapolis, he brings back his city-bred 16 year-old grandson (Joseph Mazzello). Keith Carradine plays a country sheriff, Rosanna DeSoto a ranch hand and Michael Booth an FBI agent. Jad Mager and Adam Logan are on hand as troublemakers while T. Mychael Rambo plays a hearse driver.

This dramedy focuses is on the conflict-habituated friendship of the two older ranchers and the visiting teen being a fish-out-water in the wilderness, which brings to mind 2003's "Secondhand Lions." At around the 30-minute mark there are several laugh-out-loud scenes, which are less frequent throughout the rest of the movie. The lines of the idiotic FBI agent are the best. Beyond this, the cast and authentic North Dakota locations are great, but the movie's mediocre about half the time. For instance, the kid responds to Kristofferson's character in one scene and it's wholly unconvincing. A top-of-the-line movie would re-do the scene or ad lib; whatever it took to make it work. So it's one of those part good/part meh movies, but I think the good makes it worthwhile, like the laughs, the birthing scene, the cast and the ND locations.

The film runs 99 minutes and was shot in Fryburg, Beach & Medora, North Dakota, and Minneapolis.

GRADE: C+

Having looked everywhere for information about this film for well over a year, I was shocked when it suddenly popped up on Cable and Satellite last weekend. It was quite different to what I had expected, but nevertheless well worth the wait. If you are looking for a film that will make you laugh and make you cry, but leave you with a nice warm feeling inside, then look no further. The whole cast is excellent, without a weak link and there are fine performances by Peter Fonda, Kris Kristofferson and Keith Carradine. But, not for the first time, Joe Mazzello (Radio Flyer,Jurassic Park,The Cure, Simon Birch) steals the show.As Joe's character, Charles is taken, reluctantly, on the journey of a lifetime, he discovers a whole new world, his roots and himself. We, the viewers, see a hugely talented young actor and the character he portrays growing up before our very eyes. This is one film not to be missed!

This is one of those heart warming movies about a technologically advanced grandson (Joe Mazzello, "Jurassic Park") and a backwoods sheep farmer grandfather (Peter Fonda). After being disconnected for many years from one another, they get the chance to discover what the other one is all about. A supporting role by Kris Kristofferson makes this movie a must see.

Mediocre movie in the vein of "An Unfinished Life" that has its moments, but falls apart because it doesn't know whether to be a drama or a slapstick comedy. Peter Fonda and Kris Kristofferson give amazing performances, and share some very funny and bittersweet scenes, but they're constantly being interrupted by pointless comic relief. A movie about an old man waiting to die should not have bungling cops, Dukes of Hazzard villains, and annoying teenagers. The latter is especially grating. I realize the entire plot centers around the kid, but after ten minutes of his shrill, nasal whining I wanted him to get trampled to death by the sheep.

It has beautiful footage of the North Dakota landscape (after a confusing side trip to Minneapolis), and like I said before, Fonda and Kristofferson are wonderful, but the rest is a wash. If they'd scrapped the comedy, this would have been a great movie.