Gentlemen Broncos

"Gentlemen Broncos" is so off-the-charts weird at times that you often can't tell whether it's breaking new ground as a brilliantly original and creative work - or just trying too hard.

Michael Angarano ("Forbidden Kingdom") plays Benjamin Pervis, a friendless teen who lives with his penniless mom in a geodesic-domed house in rural Utah. Ben is a writer of sci-fi fantasy fiction who has one of his stories stolen by Ronald Chevalier (the delightful Jemaine Clement), a world-famous author with a James Mason voice. Ben also runs into a couple of bizarre indie-film makers who want to make the same story Chevalier stole from him (entitled "Yeast Lords" from the series "Gentlemen Broncos") into one of their shoestring-budget productions.

It's hard to know whether writers Jared and Jerusha Hess (Jared also directed the film) have any real affection for their characters and the world they inhabit or whether they view them merely as objects of out-and-out mockery and ridicule. In fact, the characters, with their mouth-breathing, slack-jawed expressions and atonal line readings, achieve near-freak show status at times. It's this air of condescension, rather than the tale itself, that sometimes makes it hard for us to laugh at what's happening on screen.

Despite this discomfort, however, there is still much to admire in the work. The movie has fun parodying both the unscrupulous nature of the publishing business and the accoutrements of low-budget filmmaking. Clement is marvelously deadpan as the sci-fi penner whose writer's-block forces him to scrap all traces of authorial integrity in pursuit of the almighty buck. And Angarano creates in Benjamin a character we can actually care about and root for. The enactments of scenes from Benjamin's novels are appropriately hokey and cheesy, and the movie also makes astute musical choices, particularly Zager and Evans' 1969 hit "In the Year 2525," which effectively book-ends the story.

For some reason I managed to miss the reviews for Jared Hess' "Gentlemen Broncos" when it first opened in limited release. I saw the trailer for it some time ago, and was excited for it; "Napoleon Dynamite" and even Hess' follow-up "Nacho Libre" were two of the most off-kilter, refreshing comedies I've seen in the past decade. "Broncos" is absolutely no exception, expanding on and arguably perfecting the "geekverse" that Hess started with "Napoleon." This third film in the "Crayola Trilogy" may be so well designed for sci-fi geeks and lovers of Hess' first two movies, that it simply had no way to possibly survive in the mainstream market.

Me? I loved it. Not seeing any reviews beforehand, I was expecting a film that hit the same high notes of "Napoleon," and for me, I got them. I am also a sci-fi nut, and I like my comedies full of bizarre and strangely real people- this, Hess excels in, as well. I went to bed last night rating it a "10" on IMDb; I was shocked to see the rating at a mere "5.5/ 10." Flip over to Rotten Tomatoes; it's a "Rotten" at 16%. I also find it worth noting that neither of Hess' previous releases have been treated on IMDb much better--- I seem to remember a time when "ND" was in the Top 250, or at the very least had a much higher rating than it does today (6.9). I recall "ND" being hailed as a cult classic, only to see its popularity seemingly cripple later opinions of the film (regardless of the fact it started very small).

Anyway. I'm just saying I think Jared Hess' work has been roundly ignored for being truly great cinema. I can see why "Gentlemen Broncos" has not enjoyed the success of "ND"--- it is a truly far-out film, that only "nuts" such as myself are likely to enjoy; I spent my youth much like the lead character writing short stories and dreaming up far-off worlds--- for kids like that, and their adult counterparts, I can only say "See This Film." You won't regret it.

I'm going to keep this one short and simple.

Gentleman Broncos is the 3rd feature film written and directed by Jared Hess. Gentleman Broncos follows awkward sci-fi loving Benjamin as he tries to have his story, Yeast Lords, made into a "movie." But after going to a sci-fi camp and meeting his favorite sci-fi author, Chevalier played by Jemaine from Flight of the Concords, he steals Benjamin's idea and makes the book himself.

Now, first things first, unlike another That Was Junk writer, I like Napoleon Dynamite and I don't think it's the worst movie I've ever seen. I love it in fact; movies about awkward, weird people out of place people make me smile. And that's what this movie felt like. It's basically Napoleon Dynamite 2. The main character, Benjamin played by Micheal Angorano, isn't necessarily as weird as Napoleon Dynamite but everyone else around him is such as his mother, played by lovely Jennifer Coolidge who sells tacky clothing and giant balls of popcorn, is.

Everything and everyone is weird in this movie. And everyone is fitted in retroesque clothing and sporting bad haircuts. There is a lot of silly dialog and snappy one-liners that would make any teenager crack-up. Watching at 5 in the morning had me laughing, but honestly the lack of sleep could have been a factor. It's quite obvious Jared Hess has an odd and unique way of making movies. Even if one hates the dialog, I don't think anyone could deny that he is a great director. And cinematographer Munn Powell, also DP on Napoleon Dynamite, has a way of making Hess' movies look dated. Hess loves awkward, deformed, and over the top character. Héctor Jiménez, of Nacho Libre fame plays over-smiling and flamboyant Lonnie. Sam Rockwell plays the rough and tough Bronco and the flouncy Brutus. And Mike White plays the Jennifer Coolidge's slow husband. I loved all these characters because they were silly. I can most definitely guarantee that one of the big reasons this movie has a 5.4 on IMDb is because people hate the characters. They make you feel uncomfortable and have you asking "why are they doing that?" Their dialog, movements and just everything about them is completely unnecessary. So why do I love them, because everything about them is so unnecessary. It's like passing through a small town when you're coming from your big city home. Everything is surreal and you feel like you've stepped into another world. The Clothes are old fashion and the people are completely clueless. I love people and movies like that personally. I love movies that don't take their characters too seriously and can make them silly. It's the reason why I watch movies like G-Force from time to time.

If Napoleon Dynamite made you want to pull your eyeballs out then stay for from this movie, you won't like it.

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I watched this with my 10 and 6 year old boys and we laughed the whole time. It's a ridiculous movie, with crazy, interesting and incredibly funny characters. Jennifer Coolidge is brilliant, as usual. Benjamin, the main character, is believable as a thoughtful, possibly gifted outsider amongst crazies. There are lots of fun shifts between the main plot line and Benjamin's created one, the story that was stolen. His story is shown via perfectly bad sci-fi movie scenes, complete with dialogue believably written by a teenage boy. We loved it - happened upon it and were glad we did. I saw a negative review for the movie and will say I thought it was MUCH funnier and better than Napolean Dynamite.

You will know within 2 minutes of watching this if you can watch all of it or not - it is anti-Hollywood, just about anti-indie, a brilliant take on boredom, eccentricity, makes unoriginality into hyper-originality and is generally like a 1930s freak show with a side order of banal.

Seriously weird, and yet oddly familiar, the psychodramas and models of parenting and the wakwardness of friendships are all twisted in a maelstrom of ideas that just keep on coming. Every character is explored not for character but for something odd, find the oddness, in the face, the mannerisms etc; and its in their eccentricities that you find the story.

However, behind all of the strangeness, there is consummate skill: the actors are all just on the line between satire and buffoonery and it all works brilliantly. This is a truly strange, odd, little film with Sci-Fi roots and strange strange buds.

All I can say is plunge in - it is one of the stranger films out there - yet it has heart and humor, and many will recognize the nerdcore COS world it inhabits all too well - if off the wall is your cup of tea you can rest assured you have found the right stop...weirdly brilliant....