Broken Horses (2015)

Thanks for the memories!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

The acting was fabulous - very well done - well shot - we were surprised and impressed. The way the story was set up was shocking and yet made sense - mental deficiency is a cloudy and mysterious thing to observe in real life and very hard to act it was well - so Christopher Marquette did a great job - and evil men - as deeply evil as Vincent Donofrio's character was is also very hard to play - so the casting of those two roles as well as the brother, Jake and his fiancé was what held my interest - and I felt the cinematography was excellent. It is never clear whether it is the direction, acting or shooting that makes for a compelling story and usually it has to be all three - so, it got me. Having been in the business for many decades and knowing how hard all that is to get right, I was impressed. Hope they got their money back on it and have good memories...It was a very different journey for me as a viewer of many adventure and thriller films.

After the first 15 mins of the Movie I was really glued to my seat. Though the story line is the 'Baap' of all Hindi Movie plots but the way the thing was shown on the Silver Screen really demands some kudos from the audience. Mr Vidhu Vinod Chopra has done a excellent work in presenting the old wine in a new bottle packed with superb flavors which has aged into perfection and is a feast for the eyes. Hats off to the Screenplay and Direction skills which has enriched the movie from all angles. Some may say that it was too melodramatic and I also agree to it at some point but at the same time my other half tells me that as this is a Commercial movie so some things need to change in order to get a good Box Office review. I would recommend this movie to all Indian Audiences in India and Abroad including our veteran Film Makers, Actors and Producers too, to take this as an Inspiration and conquer Hollywood. We shall never forget the fact that till now Bollywood is the Largest Film Industry in the Universe and we need to show the World that too through Hollywood. Lastly Hats off to Mr Chopra for giving us a masterpiece in the form of Broken Horses. Keep it Up Sir !!!

Broken Horses is broken on so many levels. To begin with, I will take the kid who can't act first. Whoever did the casting concentrated on his features alone, that and how much he would resemble Chris Marquette growing up. As the lame boy struggles with his lines without an expression on his face, Thomas Jane goes on to show his acting prowess by imparting brilliant gravity to his role.We soon meet a guy called Hench played quite beautifully by Vincent D'Onofrio. Surprisingly his entrance and introduction to the tale gets smeared by poor direction. An unimportant dispensable element to the story was Ignacio played by Sean Patrick Flanery. He gets lost in a pointless plot. So does a horse that was merely kept to justify the movie moniker, and also to blast out five seconds after two bullets get fired.Chris as Buddy seemed as if he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. The plot that surrounded Garza too was an exercise in futility.Screenplay is really poor. The drama also doesn't stir you up. Actors seem to act on preordained tracks. The score is average albeit occasionally the violin would take things up for a while. The direction is quite mediocre and scrambles awkwardly with a predictable plot. It lingers along with the poor editing of the movie and goes on in a weird pace.There is one scene wherein the camera captures Buddy in the background mourning as his brother beseeches Hench to let him help his brother out. I didn't comprehend why was there a need to take all three of them in a single shot? He looked more animated acting at a distance, unfocused, mourning, simply spoiling the gravity of the talk. Even little things in the movie are explained or told by actors taking audience for fools. For instance, as we see a grown up Buddy version he instantly tells his brother that he had a haircut. I mean, why do you even need to spell it out? We knew who he was! Du-uh!The movie being a Vidhu Vinod Chopra flick, I went in with high expectations. That could have been the cause of my big disappointment. There was nothing thrilling. Just a bland tale projected with a bleak vibe.Eventually, I would still call it an average flick uplifted only because of Vincent and Anton's performances. However, I would suggest you pass this one!

I expected more of this film. Performances offered by Vincent D'Onofrio normally impress me, but this movie is so overwhelmingly bleak, the story so implausible, and the characters -- Buddy, Jakey, and Vittoria aside -- so unlikeable, that even his performance could not save this underwhelming picture. I will say this: the cinematography was amazing. I had a real sense of place the whole time that I watched it in the cinema.If you can suspend reality and accept the completely implausible premises set up by whoever wrote this mess of a movie, then you may well leave the theatre raving about what an excellent film it is. You may even mumble that the principals involved and the actors featured in it deserve consideration for various prizes. Not me, though. I can accept that it is alright, but I will not be singing its praises anytime soon. I would take a pass on Broken Horses if I were you.