Junior Bonner : Le Dernier Bagarreur

I first heard of this film on a trip to Prescott for the 1973 rodeo. Three days of hard liquor, sex and wild livestock (I had sat out Woodstock in an NYC jail and had to make do) Of course the film was all the buzz but the highlight of '73 was an ill-advised visit by a chapter of Hell's Angels who didn't know the locals carried side arms. They had a most humiliating exit. The former territorial capitol, a moribund Prescott sat between the exhausted gold fields in the mountains and the ranches suffering from poor beef prices out on the high prairie. The Palace Bar was the queen of a raucous grouping of saloons on Whiskey Row. A place to rub elbows with crazed prospectors and working cowboys. The town's only nod to modernity was a Western Auto Parts store and Sears Catalog outlet...I don't think they had a McDonalds.

Today the faceless crowd savors its victory. The ranchers cried "uncle" and gave in to the developers or joined them. Whiskey Row in name only the bars have become boutiques and the Palace is a salad bar. The city groans in gridlock under the traffic of her sprawling suburbs. Street widening has obliterated the familiar or bypassed now inaccessable charms. Strip malls and the usual fast food joints line the approaches for miles and miles. A flood of California retirees have raised the costs and codes to push Jo Don Baker's trailers to rural ghettos ranging thirty and forty miles out. Phoenicians have taken the old gold camps for summer homes and condos. The once unbroken mountain views and sweep of prairie are dappled blurs of asphalt shingle, stucco and neon. A straggling herd of antelope (a protected species) are under edict of removal in one housing developement and if Junior Bonner comes back to town he better be driving an Escalade.

The film is a poignant story proven true. I haven't the heart to revisit the rodeo.

Sam Peckinpah is usually stereotyped as a director who is mainly concerned with violence and confrontation. This is only part of the picture. If you look past the violence of 'The Wild Bunch' you'll see a movie concerned with old age, loyalty and changing values. 'Straw Dogs' deals with masculinity and ethics. 'Bring Me The Head Of Alfredo Garcia' contains a vivid picture of traditional Mexican culture confronted with modern America's greed and corruption. These sub-texts and themes are often overlooked because of the blood and gore.

'Junior Bonner' leaves out the gore, and what happens? Peckinpah detractors who criticise the aforementioned movies ignore it and dismiss it as "slow" and "boring"! It is anything but. 'Junior Bonner' is a thoughtful character study of an aging rodeo performer (Steve McQueen at his best) and his relationship with his estranged family (veterans Ida Lupino and Robert Preston and character actor legend Joe Don Baker - all first rate). It moves at its own pace, which will alienate the MTV-generation, but anyone with a love of good movies will be fascinated. 'Junior Bonner' may not be as widely discussed as Peckinpah's more controversial efforts, but it's just as good in its own way, and shows once again, that he was one of THE greats of American cinema. Don't overlook this one!

There are many actors who are willing to go that extra mile to convince you the character which they are playing is genuine. Junior 'Jr' Bonner Steve McQueen is such a man. Playing him with the stoic silence as a 8 second ride on the back of a Brahma bull and with the explosive outcome of the trill, McQueen is a simple but aging rodeo star with little to say except when it comes to what is important to him. One aspect is his father Ace Bonner (Robert Preston) whom he deeply respects and quietly emulates. Ida Lupino plays Elvira Bonner, his mother and Joe Don Baker, his ambitious older brother out to become rich. Even though his brother wants him to quit the rodeo and come to work for him, Jr seeks to remain his own man. A noted old timer to Bonner's ambitions is Ben Johnson who plays Buck Roan, the owner of the dynamite animal called "Sunshine", a huge bull which really challenges Bonner. The movie is a superb vehicle for McQueen who is unquestioningly suited for the part. The story does him well and could easily have been his real trade. Excellent film. ****

The Wild Bunch, Bring Me the Head of Alfredo Garcia, Major Dundee, and many more films are great views because of writer/director Sam Peckinpah. Add in Steve McQueen, and you have the formula for a movie worth watching multiple times.

I had a personal feeling for this movie, and for McQueen's character. he just couldn't stand being at home and putting up with all the drama. It wasn't that he wanted to go from town to town chasing that elusive 8 seconds, he just felt better under the stars and not having to listen to all the crap that goes with family. You could see his eyes roll as the bickering went on. I certainly empathized with him completely.

A great film about old cowboys, but a better film about family.

Steve McQueen is my favorite actor. Bullitt is my favorite McQueen movie, but Junior Bonner is my favorite McQueen character. McQueen, as usual (and this is what makes him great), communicates more with silence than in delivering a line. The violence of the rodeo is juxtaposed against one man's unwillingness to let go of a lifestyle that is obviously coming to an end. The open west is giving way to trailers, his parents are separating forever, and his home has become a place for strangers. Junior is aging as an athlete, and as a-no-longer- young man. Even his Cadillac is on the downward side of a once successful career. The split screens and slow motion are interesting without being intrusive. This movie is about the triumph of a man who stays true to his own values, regardless of how irrelevant his environment may soon become. One man CAN make a difference. Steve McQueen was always that one man.