By Chlotrudis Independent Film Society
Rating: 3.5 cats
Director: Anna Kerrigan
Starring: AJ Slaght | Ann Dowd | Bob Stephenson | Chris Coy | Gary Farmer | Jillian Bell | John Reynolds | Sasha Knight | Steve Zahn
Country: united_states
Year: 2021
Running time: 83
IMDB: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt6187134/reference
Diane says: “The screenplay was the weak point of COWBOYS for me. Writer/director Anna Kerrigan stuffed it with too many issues (gender identity, mental illness, divorce). Joe’s mother and bullying uncle have such strong feelings, not just about gender identity, but even about a girl wearing pants. When Joe puts on jeans and a cowboy belt, her young cousin calls her a dyke. It didn’t ring true to me, and I could have used some context to make it believable (an ultra-conservative church?).
“Good choices: to have the father be the more understanding parent, and the great character of the police detective. 3 cats.”
Michael says: “There was something about this modern-day western that is also a domestic drama, and a social commentary about gender, that really worked for me. Writer/director Anna Kerrigan hits all the expected tropes then upends them a bit, making them all that more real, and effective. Recently separated from his wife, Troy, who is treated for an unspecified mental illness after spending a couple of years in prison, runs off with his trans son, Joe, heading through the Montana wilderness in hopes of crossing the border into Canada. His ex-wife refused to acknowledge their son’s gender, which was causing Joe great amounts of confusion and discomfort. The local law, in the form of a Detective named Faith, leads the effort to track them down. When Troy’s medication is lost in the woods, everything grows more complicated.
“What made COWBOYS work so well for me, was Kerrigan’s smart script. Actions don’t feel forced. Sally’s inability to accept Joe as her son, is troubling; she continues to dress Joe in frilly dresses and buys him dolls, when all he wants is to be a cowboy. Yet Sally isn’t treated as ignorant, or cruel. She truly wants what she believes is best for her child. Jillian Bell (BRITTANY RUNS A MARATHON, SWORD OF TRUST) manages to make a potentially despicable character someone relatable. Steve Zahn (LEAN ON PETE, CAPTAIN FANTASTIC, HAPPY, TEXAS) brings his amusingly manic persona to Troy, but manages to imbue it with a loving, caring Dad, who accepts his son for who he is. Most compelling is Ann Dowd’s Faith, a police detective in backwoods Montana, who is careful, methodical, smart, and empathetic, It’s no coincidence that her name is Faith, as we see her take a great leap of one toward the film’s climax.
“Not everyone loved this film as much as I did, but I think its definitely worthy of a screenplay nomination, and potentially a couple of acting nods. 4 cats”
Bob says: “No, not the John Wayne movie from the 70s, Pilgrim. This one’s about Troy and Sally, an estranged couple from Montana, and their son Joe, who’s trans.
“The film begins with Sally discovering that Troy has run off with Joe. From this point on, we alternate between the back story that brought us to this point and Troy and Joe’s Escapade in the Back Country. We learn that Troy was recently released from prison (he’s bipolar, and shit happens) and that Sally, who has not been accepting of Joe’s identity, has been trying to keep Troy and Joe apart.
“Troy is apparently planning on taking Joe to Canada, where the mountains are taller, the rivers are wider, and consequently, everything’s better. If that seems simplistic, it serves to illustrate why, while the film is clearly dealing with important timely issues, it felt like an afterschool special to me.
“In one scene, Joe’s alienation is illustrated by the apparent fact that when his father and the other men are having fun bowling, he’s stuck with the womenfolk, standing off to the side and gossipping. I haven’t bowled in a long time, but I have to say that I don’t recall such strictly defined gender roles in bowling alleys. Maybe it’s a Montana thing. Maybe it’s a Montana bowling thing.”