Broken Fences (2008)

From my favorite movies..

Brilliant and touching

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

And that hilarity comes from this ... movie(?) ... being sssooo bad.Everything about this story is just simpleminded; simpleminded script, simpleminded plot, simpleminded dialog, simpleminded acting, etc. I had to watch because I guess I needed a simpleminded laugh.Here's the plot - Joe is a simpleminded man trying to earn a simple life on his simple ranch (by the way does 3 or 4 cows and 3 chickens make a ranch?) He knows about 42 simple words. He simply has the hots for Kim who runs the local simple general store/cafe. I think she had about 5 cans of soup and a bag of flower. One day Dylan comes home from jail to help his dad Joe on the simple ranch. Now Dylan is the epitome of simpleminded! He tell his dad to put the blast on Kim. While dad & Kim are getting drunk at the local bar (she tells Joe she practically lives there!!!) Dylan stays home to protect the ranch from lions and then shoots some dude dead because Dylan didn't like the way the dude spelled FAGG (thats the spelling). Joe & Kim are simply besotted with each other and don't realize that Dylan has a body buried under foot.The sheriff comes looking for the now dead dude. Dylan doesn't care for the sheriff snooping about so Dylan shoots him too. Now Kim comes out to this simple ranch and discovers the dead sheriff. At that moment Dylan decides to get into a 'rasslin match' with Kim. Kim suddenly finds herself impaled on a giant hay bale hook and simply dies. Joe walks in and grabs his son telling him how much he loves him and then shoots Dylans innards out with his simple handgun. Joe goes to his simple log house, puts on a country record, sits down and I guess he just wants to think about and enjoy his simple life.The end !

I happened to stumble upon and rent this fantastic movie about a week ago. I didn't watch the trailer. I only knew what I knew from the DVD box. I am still haunted by it.From the first scenes I was captivated! This takes place in rural Colorado, and the scenery is breathtaking. The beginning of the movie focuses on a lonely farmer. You are taken into his daily world and you feel like you are there with him. If anything, you must rent this for the scenery.The story line builds to a shocking conclusion. I won't give anything away, that would spoil it. But I will say that one of the themes is "how come Cowboys don't cry"? Sound familiar? I am definitely buying this movie for my collection. This is a must-see for any film buff!

This film is a beautifully shot and acted drama. Set in the Colorado mountains, it is a powerful piece with exceptional acting by Jan Van Sickle. The story grabs you from the beginning to it's shocking conclusion. Breathtaking cinematography. Highly recommended! The story involved a rancher named Joe who let's his recently paroled son, Dillon, moved back in with him. Dillon seems to have turned his life around, which is good news to his dad who has just started a relationship with the local convenience store owner, Kim (excellently played by Earla Stewart). As the story unfolds, we learn that Dillon's bad luck seems to have followed him home. Dillon is played by Ryan J. Parker in a star making turn. Mr. Parker displays moments of sheer brilliance as his character faces unbearable choices. The film is currently making it's rounds in the film festival circuit, winning multiple awards along the way. Try to see it!

A lifetime of bad luck threatens a father and son's reunion, as old wounds resurface and new ones are opened in Broken Fences, Troy McGatlin's fusion of family drama and contemporary western.Joe Simmons (Jan Van Sickle) is a quiet and simple man who prefers to spend his days alone working on his ranch. He gets up at 5:00 a.m. and makes sure that the horses, cattle, and chickens are fed before he sits down to eat. Joe lives this life of solitude by choice, but we get a hint early on that Joe has cut himself off from the world a little too much. When he goes to the town's only store, he's surprised to find his friend no longer owns the place – and hasn't for quite some time. Joe might be a little bit lonely, but he's found his routine and he likes it just fine.But Joe's life of peace is unexpectedly disrupted when he gets a phone call from his estranged son Dylan, who informs him that he was recently paroled from jail and is looking for a place to stay. Though it's only hinted at, it's clear that Joe and Dylan have a long tumultuous history, and Joe is originally unwilling to take him in, even temporarily. But Joe's won't let his boy live on the streets, and he soon finds himself outside the jail, collecting his son.Dylan promises his father that he's a changed man, and it's easy to believe him. He speaks softly, works hard, and the only time he gets a fiery look in his eye is when he fervently tells his father that he'll never go back to prison again. Dylan has a host of skeletons in his closet, but maybe undeservedly so. He's a simple-minded boy who seems to be followed by a host of bad luck. A traumatizing incident in Dylan's teenage years left him emotionally scarred and in the company of a few bad seeds. Dylan was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it ended up costing him 6 years of his life behind bars.Even though Dylan promises he's turned a new leaf, things are uneasy between the two from the very beginning. They eat in silence, work in silence, and spend time on opposite ends of the ranch. But Joe senses a change in Dylan that he can't deny – maybe his son really has turned his life around. In their first candid moment, Dylan convinces Joe to ask a local shopkeeper out on a date. Things between the two men seem to be getting better, until Dylan's streak of bad luck and bad behavior catches up to him. From there, the story unfolds in unexpected directions until the shocking third act that you won't see coming.Broken Fences carefully explores this relationship between father and son without resorting to clichés. It never asks the audience an obvious question, only to respond with an even more obvious answer. McGatlin has crafted a fine little film that will engage you and challenge you until the end. And what an end it is.