In an October 17, 2009 film review written in The Hollywood reporter, film critic Frank Scheck states: “It’s hard to imagine who this film will appeal to other than the most devoted sci-fi geeks, and even they are likely to be unimpressed by the uninspired parody on display.”[1]

Uh… Frank?  Did you actually watch the film?

Gentleman Broncos is the brilliant story of Ben (Michael Angarano – The Forbidden Kingdom, Black Irish), the young, home-schooled, aspiring sci-fi writer whose favorite manuscript is stolen by his idol, Dr. Ronald Chevalier (Jermaine Clement – Flight of the Conchords), during Cletus Fest, the best annual writer’s workshop in the state.  The festival, put on by Dr. Chevalier’s publishing company, promises to award a mediocre prize to the best manuscript submitted.  The pompous and entirely too self-righteous Dr. Chevalier, fresh out of ideas, notices Ben’s manuscript cover amongst the pile of student entries, after being told his latest novella is a flop by his publisher.  He begins reading Ben’s work, and decides to change a few names and pass it off as his own work.

In the film, director Jared Hess touches on several major underlying cinematic themes, perhaps poking fun at film making and previous genre classifications as a whole?  I don’t even know why I posed that as a question, as anyone with a film background and half a brain would be able to pick up on that.  For example, the incorporation of homosexual themes into speculative fiction that began in the 1960’s is obviously represented in this film in the juxtaposition between Ben’s masculine version of Bronco and Dr. Chevalier’s effeminate Brutus (hilarious scenes of the Manuscript appear throughout the film, with slight differences letting the audience know who’s version we are watching).  Also, many of the overall elements of the film itself make reference to that time period, from Ben’s geodesic home to his Mother’s clothing designs and even the actors’ wardrobe and hair.  I find it fucking amazing that no one has touched on this obvious element, in all the reviews and articles I read in my research for this piece.

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GENTLEMEN BRONCOS Trailer – Watch more Funny Videos

The character development is genius as well, as is the case with any Hess film (Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre), but even more so, with such subtleties as the interesting facial features of independent filmmaker Lonnie Donaho (played by Hector Jimenez) not to mention Sam Rockwell’s brilliant performance, going back and forth between Ben’s masculine Bronco and Dr. Chevalier’s Brutus.

I also personally loved the parody on the Big Brother/Big Sister Program with Ben’s “Guardian Angel” Dusty’s (Mike White – Writer: Orange County, Nacho Libre) hidden agenda to hit on his Mom and liberal tutelage on poisonous darts.  The hilarious parody of the absurdity of the Sci-fi community is second only to the underlying look at an unsung creative hero who’s genius and talent are finally recognized after the unintentional yet truly loving and supportive actions of a wonderful Mother (Jennifer Coolidge – American Pie, Legally Blonde), who wants nothing more than for her son’s talents to be recognized, save young Ben, and the family. It portrays the struggles and obstacles all beginning writers and filmmakers face, and ends with sweet gratification after Ben is recognized for the true talent that he is, and Dr. Chevalier is put in his rightful place.  Really, much less of a parody on the science fiction genre as it is a true underdog tale, and a smart play on several cinematic themes, that apparently went way over the heads of quite a few people.

I give this film two fucking thumbs up.  I would also like to make a suggestion to my fellow film critics to actually watch a film prior to writing a critique about it.  You can’t just watch the beginning credits, make a few comparisons and call it a review.  Wake up people.

And to Jared Hess; how the hell did you guys get that snake to do that?  Was it “special effects”, or did that actually happen and you all were able to keep it together and get the shot without any of the actors cracking.  If that is the case… that is film making excellence at its finest.

[1] Scheck, F. (2009, October 23). Gentlemen Broncos — Film Review. The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved from http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/film-reviews/gentlemen-broncos-film-review-1004030200.story