Cowboys Don't Cry (film)
Cowboys Don't Cry | |
---|---|
Cineplex Odeon CBC Television | |
Release date | February 5, 1988 |
Running time | 103 minutes |
Country | Canada |
Language | English |
Budget | $2.9 million[1] |
Cowboys Don't Cry is a Canadian drama film, directed by
Plot
The film centres on Josh Morgan (Ron White), a rodeo clown, and former rodeo champion whose relationship with his son, Shane (Zachary Ansley), is strained after his wife, Lucy (Rebecca Jenkins), is killed in a car accident caused by his drunk driving. After the accident, he sinks into depression and self-pity. In the wake of the tragedy of Lucy's death, Shane struggles to pick up the pieces and make up for Josh's shortcomings. When Shane's grandfather dies, leaving a small ranch in his will, he hopes that his dream of settling down happily in one place, might come true after all. But how can a 14-year-old boy turn the run-down place around and keep the banker from seizing it, while attending school and looking after a father who is usually in the liability column?
Cast
- Ron White...Josh Morgan
- Zachary Ansley...Shane Morgan
- Rebecca Jenkins...Lucy Morgan
- Janet-Laine Green...Lindsay Sutherland
- Candace Ratcliffe...Casey Sutherland
- Thomas Hauff...Roger Sutherland
- Valerie Pearson...Janet
- Joshua Ansley...Young Shane Morgan
- Michael Hogan...Ron Grady
- Janet Wright...Pearl
- Barney O'Sullivan...Mr. Edwards
- Wendall Smith...Matt Wiley
- Graham McPherson...Mr. Zaharchuk
- Thomas Peacocke...Mr. Thorpe
- Jason Wolff...Pete
- Georgie Collins...Ms. Chapman
- William Korbut...Charlie
- Ruby Swekla...Mrs. Pasok[4]
Background and production
Director Anne Wheeler said she had "several directing offers", and chose this film because Atlantis agreed to let her write the screenplay and direct the film too. Wheeler said that she "wanted the challenge of writing a feature-length script because I hadn't done that before". She also said her "first drafts were weak", because she "stereotyped the male characters". She noted that she had to put herself in "their position" and just ignore the "fact that they were men", because "if you start thinking of them as 'the other', you fall into stereotypes and the same patterns that have been shown time and time again".[5]
Marilyn Halvorson, who wrote the novel the film is based on, criticized Wheeler's screenplay for "shifting the focus away from the teenage protagonist to the problems of the father". For her part, Wheeler just "shrugged off" Halvorson's irritation with the screenplay, saying she "took the intent of the book seriously", but in her view, the "script has to work for me", and the actors didn't "see any conflict either".[1]
A large portion of the film was shot on location in Pincher Creek, in southern Alberta, Canada.[6]
Release
The film premiered in Calgary, Alberta on February 5, 1988, as part of the cultural festival for the 1988 Winter Olympics,[7] and had theatrical screenings in selected other cities before airing on CBC Television in November.[8]
Reception
Greg Burliuk from the
Jay Scott from The Globe and Mail criticized the film for being "relentlessly simplistic", and opined that the film "doesn't quite reach melodrama; it expires somewhere south of soap opera, in a plot that includes foreclosures and a mare damaged by barbed wire. The message is, of course, that feelings need to be expressed, but even in 'a new family drama', there ought to be more content than a single bald statement to the effect that Cowboys Do Too Boo Hoo".[3]
Film critic Mike Boone of the
Awards
The film garnered four
References
- ^ a b "Award winner tries again with Cowboys". North Bay Nugget. The Canadian Press. September 24, 1987. p. 31.
- ^ Kingston Whig-Standard. p. 10.
- ^ ProQuest 385936905.
- ^ Cowboys Don't Cry (1988), retrieved March 29, 2018
- The Edmonton Journal. p. C1.
- ^ Horton, Marc (February 7, 1988). "Cowboy rides high on emotion, beauty". The Edmonton Journal.
- ^ "Canadian film to premiere at Olympic festival". Arts / entertainment. Ottawa Citizen. December 9, 1987. p. F13.
- ^ ProQuest 431714420.
- The Daily Herald Tribune. The Canadian Press. p. 15.
- ProQuest 386016155.
The film was named best of the festival by four judges contracted by the Alberta Motion Picture Industry Association
External links
- Cowboys Don't Cry at IMDb
- Cowboys Don't Cry at TCM