Buck (film)
Encyclopedia
Buck is a 2011 American documentary film
directed by Cindy Meehl
. The film focuses on the life, career, and philosophy of the real-life "horse whisperer" Buck Brannaman
.
film The Horse Whisperer
as the lead equine consultant. He teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.
The documentary follows Brannaman to several stops on his normal, 40-week-per-year circuit of ranches where he gives clinics on "natural horsemanship
". He spends most of the year on the road, apart from his wife and daughters. Along the way, we learn about his childhood including his celebrity as a child performer of rope tricks, the physical abuse that he and his brother endured at the hands of their father, how a football coach helped to free him from his father after seeing welts on Buck's back and legs, and life with the Shirleys, his foster parents.
. This is her first film. As Meehl watched Brannaman at one of his clinics in Pennsylvania, she thought, "Everyone should know this. Everyone should know the way he teaches".
Ultimately, she worked up the courage to ask Brannaman if he would be interested in making a film about his methods. During a clinic at the McGinnis Meadows Cattle & Guest Ranch in Montana, she spotted Brannaman sitting alone at lunch and approached him about doing a film. Two and a half minutes later, she had a "yes" and his phone number – and was off on a two year journey making her first film. Meehl formed Cedar Creek Productions, LLC in 2008 to produce the film.
in Park City, Utah where it won the U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award.
The New York Times
gives Buck its NYT Critics' Pick. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter
calls the film "a quietly captivating portrait of an unlikely character" that is "as modest as its subject and wins viewers over just as easily." For The Washington Post
, DeFore gives the documentary the Critic's Pick and writes Buck is "one of those rare documentaries whose subject is so inherently fascinating that a fictional character could hardly compete."
Marshall Fine
, of Hollywood and Fine, wrote in The Huffington Post
that Buck is "as engrossing as a documentary can be, a film that will touch you emotionally even as you watch the action in fascination." David Edelstein
, of NPR
, call Buck a "shambling yet uncannily beautiful documentary."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun Times gives the film three stars and writes "What I was left with was the goodness of Buck Brannaman as a man. He was dealt a hand that might have destroyed him. He overcame his start and is now a wise and influential role model. He does unto horses as he wishes his father had done onto him."
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Cindy Meehl
Cindy Meehl
Cindy Meehl is an American documentary filmmaker and film producer. Her first film, Buck, was released on June 17, 2011, after a successful set of showings at U.S...
. The film focuses on the life, career, and philosophy of the real-life "horse whisperer" Buck Brannaman
Buck Brannaman
Dan M. "Buck" Brannaman is a horse trainer and a leading practitioner within the field of Natural horsemanship, which is a philosophy of working with horses based on the idea of working with the horse's nature, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept...
.
Synopsis
Buck is a film that explores the life of Buck Brannaman from his childhood living with an abusive father to his successful approach to handling and training horses. Brannaman worked on the Robert RedfordRobert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
film The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer
The Horse Whisperer is a 1998 American drama film directed by and starring Robert Redford, based on the 1995 novel of the same name by Nicholas Evans...
as the lead equine consultant. He teaches people to communicate with their horses through leadership and sensitivity, not punishment.
The documentary follows Brannaman to several stops on his normal, 40-week-per-year circuit of ranches where he gives clinics on "natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship
Natural horsemanship is the philosophy of working with horses by appealing to their instincts and herd instincts. It involves communication techniques derived from wild horse observation in order to build a partnership that closely resembles the relationships that exist between horses.- Basic ideas...
". He spends most of the year on the road, apart from his wife and daughters. Along the way, we learn about his childhood including his celebrity as a child performer of rope tricks, the physical abuse that he and his brother endured at the hands of their father, how a football coach helped to free him from his father after seeing welts on Buck's back and legs, and life with the Shirleys, his foster parents.
Cast
- Buck BrannamanBuck BrannamanDan M. "Buck" Brannaman is a horse trainer and a leading practitioner within the field of Natural horsemanship, which is a philosophy of working with horses based on the idea of working with the horse's nature, using an understanding of how horses think and communicate to train the horse to accept...
as himself - Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
as himself - Mary Brannaman as herself
- Reata Brannaman as herself
- Betsy Shirley as herself
Production
Buck was conceived, directed, and produced by Cindy MeehlCindy Meehl
Cindy Meehl is an American documentary filmmaker and film producer. Her first film, Buck, was released on June 17, 2011, after a successful set of showings at U.S...
. This is her first film. As Meehl watched Brannaman at one of his clinics in Pennsylvania, she thought, "Everyone should know this. Everyone should know the way he teaches".
Ultimately, she worked up the courage to ask Brannaman if he would be interested in making a film about his methods. During a clinic at the McGinnis Meadows Cattle & Guest Ranch in Montana, she spotted Brannaman sitting alone at lunch and approached him about doing a film. Two and a half minutes later, she had a "yes" and his phone number – and was off on a two year journey making her first film. Meehl formed Cedar Creek Productions, LLC in 2008 to produce the film.
Reception
Buck premiered at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival2011 Sundance Film Festival
The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah....
in Park City, Utah where it won the U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award.
The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
gives Buck its NYT Critics' Pick. John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter
The Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
calls the film "a quietly captivating portrait of an unlikely character" that is "as modest as its subject and wins viewers over just as easily." For The Washington Post
The Washington Post
The Washington Post is Washington, D.C.'s largest newspaper and its oldest still-existing paper, founded in 1877. Located in the capital of the United States, The Post has a particular emphasis on national politics. D.C., Maryland, and Virginia editions are printed for daily circulation...
, DeFore gives the documentary the Critic's Pick and writes Buck is "one of those rare documentaries whose subject is so inherently fascinating that a fictional character could hardly compete."
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine
Marshall Fine Author, Journalist, and movie critic. Marshall Fine is a film critic and author who has worked at newspapers in Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, South Dakota, California and New York. Fine spent 25 years covering film for Gannett Newspapers. More recently, he has served as film/TV...
, of Hollywood and Fine, wrote in The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post
The Huffington Post is an American news website and content-aggregating blog founded by Arianna Huffington, Kenneth Lerer, and Jonah Peretti, featuring liberal minded columnists and various news sources. The site offers coverage of politics, theology, media, business, entertainment, living, style,...
that Buck is "as engrossing as a documentary can be, a film that will touch you emotionally even as you watch the action in fascination." David Edelstein
David Edelstein
David Edelstein is the chief film critic for New York Magazine, as well as the film critic for NPR's Fresh Air and CBS Sunday Morning. He lives in Brooklyn, New York....
, of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
, call Buck a "shambling yet uncannily beautiful documentary."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun Times gives the film three stars and writes "What I was left with was the goodness of Buck Brannaman as a man. He was dealt a hand that might have destroyed him. He overcame his start and is now a wise and influential role model. He does unto horses as he wishes his father had done onto him."
Awards
Wins- 2011 Sundance Film Festival U.S. Documentary Competition Audience Award.
- 2011 Full Frame Documentary Film FestivalFull Frame Documentary Film FestivalThe Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. Each spring Full Frame welcomes filmmakers and film lovers from around the world to historic downtown Durham, North Carolina for a four-day, morning to midnight...
’s Audience Award, April 2011.