It’s sometimes refreshing to see a film that’s managed to skim underneath the mainstream radar a little and it’s all the more fun when it managed to surprise you beyond your most far ranging expectation, which is exactly what happened with Indian director, Vidhu Vinod Chopra’s American movie debut, Broken Horses. It’s not always entirely polished, but if you took elements of Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill and mixed it with a modern day re-imagining of John Steinbeck’s Of Mice And Men, Cormac McCarthy’s No Country For Old Men and Will Ferrell’s Casa De Mi Padre then you you wouldn’t be too far away from what Chopra has achieved with his new crime thriller.
Coming out on general release on the 10th April 2015 as a relative unknown, all it really had going for it in terms of preamble was a couple of favourable recommendations by Gravity director Alfonso Cuaron and Avatar’s James Cameron. However, what it lacks in awareness it more than makes up for with sheer impact, surrealist imagination and exceptional cinematography from Tom Stern, who continues to deliver visually stunning scenes, building on his previous work for American Sniper, Gran Torino and Flags Of Our Fathers.
The story is that of two brothers who grow up together in a quiet town in the modern day equivalent of the wild west following the murder of their father. As they grew up they end up going their separate ways a little with elder brother Buddy staying on in the backwater town and younger brother Jake moving to New York to attend music school and attempt to start a career as a professional violinist. However, when Jake finally returns home to visit his brother ahead of his wedding, he finds out that there’s a whole world of trouble surrounding Buddy.
It latches onto the classic brother story that goes back throughout history, leaving you second guessing what might happen in the messed up dust bowl out in the desert. The drug runner gang that Buddy has become a part is artfully crafted, providing the tension that constricts around the film as it develops and the justification for Jake’s decision to come up with a plan to try to get his brother out of the dark life he’s been manipulated to be a part of.
There’s a little Mad Max in the mix at times with a far fetched, hyper-violent attitude and the occasional mecha-punk intrusion, as is the case with Jake’s former violin teacher, Ignatio’s mobility chair. It all makes for a surreal and memorable movie experience that often looks incredibly well set and shot thanks to the work of Stern and the addition of Chopra’s Indian film industry experience.
The cast aren’t always flawless, but they are ferociously intense when they need to be, especially Chris Marquette (Alpha Dog) who plays the slower witted, psychopathic older brother. Anton Yelchin (Star Trek: Into Darkeness) makes the step up into a lead role well, playing Jake with a certain amount of fragility with undercurrents of desperate resolve. María Valverde doesn’t really feature enough to contribute all that much to the story of Broken Horses, but she does provide a little stability to the beginning and end of the film.
It all hangs together on the bad man mountain that is Vincent D’Onofrio (Jurassic World), who plays gang leader Julius Hench, bringing the vicious edge of the film together with a lot of skill. It’s a performance that bodes well for the potential of Marvel’s Daredevil, with D’Onofrio taking on the role of the comic book villain The Kingpin. Jordi Caballero (Rango) also puts in a standout shift as Hench’s opposite number over on the Mexican side of the border, playing a key part in the progression of the story to its strangulation point ending.
It may well be a little frayed around the edges when it comes to some of the dialogue, but Broken Horses has enough repeated punches to take down any thrill seeking cinema-goer. It’s not quite as sharp or serious as ’71, but it has a lot of the surprise factor that made it such a must watch movie. If you like Tarantino then this could be a movie to add to your list, but if you’re not into distorted mirrors as the foundation stone of a movie then it might be too much for your to stand.
Broken Horses review: 4/5
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