Customer Reviews

Junior Bonner

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3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

As a big fan of film director Sam Peckinpah and actor Steve McQueen, I always thought I had seen their most substantial work. Much to my surprise, I viewed the 1972 film "Junior Bonner" for the first time recently and was stunned by its quality and depth. "Junior Bonner" is a terrific film, complete with Peckinpah's individualistic themes, McQueen's understated though electric presence, magnificient location detail, boozy saloons and elder statesmen (and women) coming to terms with a rapidly receding past.

A genre unto itself, the rodeo lifestyle was documented with surprising fervor in the early 1970s by a handful of interesting films including "Honkers," "J.W. Coop," and "When the Legends Die." Each film explored the themes of a changing civilization which embraced convention while muting individualism and personal freedom. Thus, Peckinpah and McQueen were truly in their element with "Junior Bonner."

The film covers a day in the life of Junior Bonner (McQueen), an aging rodeo star who returns to his Arizona hometown to participate in an annual rodeo competition. We are soon introduced to his family, including his estranged parents (Robert Preston and Ida Lupino) and his budding businessman brother (Joe Don Baker) looking to profit from the sale of his father's land while exploiting the frontier/cowboy persona.

"Junior Bonner" is so understated, that the viewer must read between the lines throughout its brief running time, including a fascinating dinner scene with McQueen, Lupino and Baker when they discuss the family's future. It is a moment of brilliant directing and acting.

Ironically, what is probably the least seen film of Peckinpah and McQueen's careers is also one of their best. Peckinpah has never before been so restrained, if not gentle. Known for his fierce action sequences in such films as "The Wild Bunch" and "The Getaway," Peckinpah utilizes his detailed, frenzied style during the exciting rodeo sequences. But his handling of the more intimate moments, especially those between Preston and Lupino, are some of his most gentle scenes he ever put on film. In many ways, Preston's character is just a scruffy version of Peckinpah himself - a deeply flawed but eventually loveable dreamer. It is Peckinpah opening up to the viewer for one of the few times in his career.

McQueen, likewise, plays a character very close to him as a man. The role of Junior Bonner is that of a gregarious loner, limping from the hard knocks of life, trying to quietly go about his business but discovering he can do anything but. His accent, his mannerisms and his reactions to everyday life always ring with a note of truth. It's absolutely one of his finest performances.

Perhaps the film's only fault is the rather abrupt ending which seems to come out of nowhere. It's unconventional, but then again, so were Peckinpah and McQueen. Unheralded, and relatively unknown, "Junior Bonner" is a great film ripe for discovery. Quiet, unassuming and good natured, "Junior Bonner" is a perfect display of two legendary motion picture talents (Peckinpah, McQueen) exploring themes perhaps closer to their hearts than any film they ever made.

This is one of those movies that starts out "under the influence" of the 1970s, with kinetic split-screen images during the credits, showing in slow motion a disastrous ride on a bull, intercut with shots of McQueen driving a mud-spattered and beat up white Cadillac convertible, towing a horse trailer, altogether the picture of a man down on his luck. Then we get a vision of an American West exhausted and resold as suburban housing developments of so-called rancheros (never mind that "ranchero" once referred in the Southwest to the owner of a ranch) by young women in cowboy hats and hot pants. And Steve McQueen's rodeo cowboy, Jr. Bonner, returns to the home place outside Prescott, Arizona, to find heavy equipment operators fiercely tearing up the earth and anything that gets in their way. Standing there in his tight Lee jeans, western shirt and straw cowboy hat, surveying a land laid waste, he's the picture of a promising future that has seriously run aground somewhere.

But director Peckinpah lightens up after this downbeat start, and the movie becomes a kind of romantic comedy, with old-timer Robert Preston rising from his hospital bed with a dream of prospecting in Australia and a last attempt to win back his wife of many years, played wonderfully by Ida Lupino. There is plenty of farce, including Preston and McQueen riding a horse through backyards and getting hung up on a clothesline, a comical barroom brawl, a punch that sends a man through a front porch window, and the rodeo itself with a rapid montage of graceless falls from rough stock played against turkey-in-the-straw music.

McQueen, playing an ageing, stove-up bull rider, is the calm at the center of this storm. While Preston clowns, Lupino frowns, Joe Don Baker fumes, and Ben Johnson grins and cracks jokes, McQueen reflects a quiet reserve that connects him with a long line of western heroes holding true to the cowboy code of generosity, individualism, and toughing it out when the going gets rough. He gets the girl, but not for long, because true to form, he has to get on down the road. Much of the footage in the film seems to be from an actual rodeo, but rodeo fans should be forewarned. It's not a serious attempt to portray the sport with much accuracy.

I was looking forward to seeing this film because of Steve , having just seen him in 'The Getaway' , also directed by Sam Peckinpah . The two films could not be more different .
In Junior Bonner the actors , atmosphere , characters , cinematography and script are all top notch . For those who think of Bullitt when they think of Steve and the Wild Bunch when they think of Sam Peckinpah , this film is something very special and a wonderful surprise - like discovering buried treasure . It's that good .
A bargain price DVD , in no way reflecting the film's high quality .

You can walk away from "Junior Bonner" having seen every Sam Peckinpah and Steve McQueen film and not know that either contributed to this low-key gem. It's a tribute to both legends that they eschewed vanity to create a film that feels like real life. I don't know how long it took Peckinpah to lens this film but it feels like he just took his camera for a few days to capture the ambiance of Prescott, Arizona on a Fourth of July Weekend when the rodeo came to town. Having never been to a rodeo or seen any films about it I found the way Peckinpah captures the people, the sights, and sounds thrilling. Anybody whose followed the career of Steve McQueen knows that he was the master of understatement. Here he gracefully captures the essence of an aging rodeo star who goes from one show to the next in hopes of winning the $950.00 in prize money. Peckinpah populates the cast with legendary actors like Robert Preston, Ida Lupino, and Ben Johnson along with notable character actors like Joe Don Baker and William McKinney. This ensemble of actors are terrific because they seem like real people who've been part of the rodeo world or Prescott landscape their whole lives. Needless to say, a must for Peckinpah or McQueen fans and essential viewing for all film lovers.

If you know Sam Peckinpah from only his "Bloody Sam" ouvre (that is, pretty much all his films, The Wild Bunch most infamously), then you may be surprised by this gentle, low-key contemporary rodeo tale. Which isn't to say that Peckinpah is not excising his usual demons--the indvidual at odds with his society, the conflict of the man who is out of sync with his times. But this time he does it with not a geyser of blood nor dead body (nor dead bodies) in sight. Instead, he gives us a couple days in the life of an on-the-verge-of-being-a-has-been rodeo rider returning to his hometown rodeo. The truth is, not much happens in this film. Junior Bonner, in the old western tradition of a "man's gotta do what a man's gotta do", gets another shot at the bull that threw him just days before. We meet his older brother who has thrown in his lot with developers that are inevitably destroying the very West they exploit. We meet his na'er-do-well Dad and his daffy dreams of striking it rich in Australia. And we meet his Mother, dependent on her successful son, bitter over the dissolution of the man she married as well as her marriage, but still onery. Like Peckinpah's best films, this is really a character study of people at odds with their world, each other, and themselves, but who yet find dignity and grace in the worst of situations. The performances are first-rate all around: Steve McQueen not afraid to make a little fun of his famous macho persona; the same for Robert Preston and usually tough guy Joe Don Baker; and best of all, Ida Lupino, playing a role that doesn't exist in contenmporary American movies, a fully realized middle-aged woman. Again, not much happens, but by the time you get to the end of this tiny gem, you realize everything has happened, for we get a real sense of life and the complicated choices it tosses at us. This is a side of Peckinpah that he never again showed, which is a shame for anyone who loves the man's work and loves American movies.

Did Steve McQueen ever deliver a bad performance on film? This film is no exception. Although it is rarely shown on TV, due to its subject matter, and the huge popularity of McQueen's action films, this is a wonderful film. The cast is wonderful, beginning, of course, with McQueen, and the characters are deep and personal. You won't be able to find a single flaw in their performances or the "little" story. It's about a man who is still doing his best to be true to old-fashioned values and ideals that the modern world has forgotten and discarded. Follow McQueen's eyes, always. Don't take your eyes off his. His eyes will tell you the story in every one of his films. I believe this is one of his best performances simply because there is so much of the man in the character he portrays. Read a McQueen biography. There are several that are worthy. He was the last film star with charisma. (I don't know what it is either, but I know it when I see it.) All I know is that his best work was done in roles like this one, when he portrays characters that are out of their proper time, and misplaced in a world that no longer values, and has no place for, honor, integrity, courage, loyalty, honesty, humility, dedication, or even knows where they come from. When I watch a Steve McQueen film like this one (The Getaway is another example) it makes me feel good. It's not because he is always the victor, or because the "bad guys" are always defeated, but because he makes trying to live by those ideals, and never giving up, look so honorable and so noble that it makes me want to keep trying, too. He makes me feel that it's better to live life his way, and be a loser, than to be a success in a world without feeling, meaning, or emotion.

Can Sam Peckinpah make a film about the human condition that doesn't involve bullets and bloodbaths? JUNIOR BONNER answers that question with an unequivocal "Yes!"

This contemporary western stars Steve McQueen as a once-proud rodeo star who has had more of a habit of losing than of winning the big shows. He comes home to Prescott, Arizona, home of the nation's oldest existing rodeo celebration, intending on breaking his losing streak. But he finds too much has changed: his family's old ranch is being turned by his older brother (Joe Don Baker) into a mobile-home park; his mother (Ida Lupino) and father (Robert Preston) are no longer on speaking terms; and his own values have become painfully antiquated.

Even this film's ending is deceptively ambiguous: McQueen DOES win the big prize at the rodeo by riding the meanest bull around and staying on for the required eight seconds, but this means he won't be able to stay. As Lupino asks, before he parts: "Ya had to win, didn'tcha?"

Except for the rodeo scenes and one amazingly-staged fight in the local bar, Peckinpah eschews his tricks for a story that practically anyone can relate to. Although JUNIOR BONNER wasn't that well recognized in its time (due to poor distribution and Peckinpah's violent reputation), it has excellent performances from McQueen, Preston, and Lupino, as well as Ben Johnson as the stock contractor who oversees McQueen's progress with sympathy.

This is a must-have for anyone interested in westerns, whether authentic or contemporary, and in Peckinpah; it was proof positive that he could do a story that didn't require any squibs.

It's hard to believe Sam Peckinpah directed this very calm and naturalistic movie. In some ways it seems more like a Robert Altman film, with it's easy going, almost improvisational feel. As the aging rodeo star reunited at his home town's "Frontier Days Celebration," Steve McQueen is right on target. His performance is completely believable as are the other roles, both major and minor. As McQueen's estranged parents, Ida Lupino and Robert Preston shine. These two pros from Hollywood's golden age show a younger generation what made them superstars. In the role of McQueen's younger, more ambitious brother, John Don Baker delivers a wonderful and subtle performance. The pace of the film is slow and deliberate at first, then picks up once we head to the rodeo. Considering all the "major league" talent involved, this is a rather small film. That notwithstanding, it is probably one of the most realistic portrayals of rodeo life and the culture it inspires. If you're a McQueen fan, you'll love this film. If you're not, it's an opportunity to see McQueen act in a role that isn't larger than life, with impressive results. And as already mentioned, the wonderful pairing of Lupino and Preston is most memorable. And this movie contains one of the best barroom brawls ever. Worth a look.

JUNIOR BONNER takes a more worldly spin to the land of the rodeo and its slow decline. Granted it's not as graphic as some of Peckinpah's earlier undertakings, and not quite as intense personal drama either. But the story of J.R. Bonner, an aging cowboy and rodeo star, who has to confront the changing times, has a lot of major societal issues weaving through its pages.

You have to understand the times. In the early 1970s the American West was still quite open and quiet, but the old ways were slowly fading off and the new consumer culture was coming in. Compared to today's dog-eat-dog economy, the late 1940s through early '70s were a socialist paradise. Jobs paid well, housing was affordable, and the executives didn't run off with seven- or eight-figure salaries. But the system became a victim of its own success as the middle class got wealthier and began to move around and buy bigger (and second) homes. Greed slipped back in, in real estate but also in the general public ideology.

JR, visiting in Prescott, Arizona for the 4th of July, is looking for his dad Ace, and sees a huge excavation pit and housing subdivision going up. Ace seems all too willing to go along with brother Curly, who is profiting from a mobile home development named after him. The Bonner family plans to move into a subdivision and work for the company. They don't realize how unfair the land deal was and how stifling the new way of life may be for them. Especially JR, who wants none of it. The conflict between JR and Curly over the future of the world they live in becomes important.

One can look at this theme two ways: Perhaps JR sees the new residents as foreigners who threaten the traditional cowboy way of life. Many are from the east and are used to things like golf courses, shopping malls and tract housing. Or maybe the real problem is the capitalist greed of Curly Bonner and his development agenda. None of it seems like authentic country life but a silly commercialized mockery of it.

JR doesn't seem like a raging idealist out to save the world, though. He just wants his freedom to live and do what he loves with animals in the rodeo. He isn't the perfect gentleman but not a mega-chauvinist either. The arena and the bullfights are his symbol of identity and the fight he is leading in his heart to resist what is happening to his family. Ace wants to search for gold in Australia, which everyone else thinks is silly.

There could have been more development in the conflict between the two brothers, something to bring it to a dramatic climax. And maybe the rodeo events should have been spaced out a little more over time to get a feeling for life on the road. But then, there's only so much time and space in one movie...

Definitely close to the heart of the anti-sprawl crowd, the history crowd, the social vision crowd, not to mention the rodeo crowd. So why wasn't it a big success? American audiences seem to prefer thrills over social conscience, and this movie takes a deeper conscience to truly enjoy. It was ahead of the times as well, anticipating a trend that has gone so much further in the 34 years since this film was written. Perhaps that is why it is enjoying a second fame today.

The movie opens with Junior Bonner (Steve McQueen), being thrown around by a big old bull named "Sunshine" and "he has never been rode" announces the presenter over the PA. That night Junior eats a lot of dirt and does not reach the eight seconds needed to gain serious winning points, shaken and angry he retreats to the back blocks to rest & prepare himself for his next venue Prescott Arizona his home town. Junior once a high prize winning rodeo star, is now well past his prime. He owns what appears in the opening credits of the movie, an old oil burning '63 Cadilliac convertible, a horse and horse float[ trailer] and thats about all. Low on money he sleeps out of town under the stars and slowly drives into Prescott firstly to visit the Bonner homestead that has been sold and converted into a gravel pit by his brother Curley Bonner [played famously by Joe Don Baker] and wife Ruth. The first disappointment in the next two days for Junior.

Junior when reaching Prescott's rodeo area clearly still has the respect of his peers and the hearts of the ladies on the circuit.

His father Ace Bonner played by veteran (Robert Preston) is planning to make another get rich quick trip to a better future down hear in Australia hunting for gold and breeding Marino sheep. However he needs money and as always is broke, another past champion down on his luck. His son Curley will not grub-stake him to any more get rich quick schemes and puts him on an allowance. So the story goes Junior meets a very lovely lady Charmagne [played by Barbara Leigh] passing through the circuit. Starts a bar room brawl and generally has a great fun time. The main event of the day for Junior is the bull riding, he has with the aid of the stock contractor played by veteran in real life former rodeo star, stuntman and later actor Ben Johnson secured another ride on "Sunshine" the main meanest bull in the pack. Finally the moment of truth will Junior Bonner ride and defeat that mean old bull "Sunshine" ride to the eight seconds, win the heart of the very beautiful Charmagne and in the eyes of all of his family and the local towns folk be the champion that he still wants to be but due to the passage of time can never be again. The rodeo action footage is great and draws many parallels with former rodeo movies in particular Robert Mitchum's " Lustful Men". The saloon fight there's near none better on film, great action all the way.

The Cast.

What is there to say about Steve McQueen .Junior Bonner, his performance is just great, a superstar without doubt, just performing as the king of " cool "a wonderful layback no fuss performance. The veteran actors performancers Robert Preston .as..Ace Bonner & Ida Lupino ..as the separated wife .Elvira Bonner shows movie fans in 1972 & as well as today in 2001 what great professionals they once were they carry the movie adding that special sense of style. The performances of Joe Don Baker ..as.Curley Bonner & Mary Murphy as...Ruth Bonner complement each other greatly as the money hungry pair not caring about those around them. Joe Don Baker moved onto greater performances but holds up well in the company of the main players. Ms Barbara Leigh ..as .Charmagne really did not get enough scope to perform with few lines and clearly was there for the visual effects only. Ben Johnson .as ..Buck Roan stock contractor & Bill McKinney ..as ..Red Terwiliger both played excellent supporting roles to Steve McQueen good performances all round hear. Interestedly Bill McKinney's next role was to play the "Mountain Man " in the movie Deliverance what can I say a man of many parts and he has been successful in supporting roles to the present age.

The direction of Sam Peckinpah is out of step with his usual movies presentations,however it works well and certainly is a credit to this Hollywood icon and shows the vast array of talent this man possessed. In summary this movie is worth the dollars, a great insight to that American sport of RODEO, go for it.