Wuchak RELEASED TO VIDEO IN 2001 and directed by Xavier Koller, "Cowboy Up" concerns rural California brothers in the tough rodeo business: Ely, the younger brother, is a banged-up bull rider (Marcus Thomas) while Hank is a rodeo clown/contractor (Kiefer Sutherland). The former is romantically interested in a vet assistant (Molly Ringwald) while the latter has his eyes on a rodeo barrel racer (Daryl Hannah). Melinda Dillon plays the brothers' mother at their ranch. Russell Means, Bo Hopkins and Pete Postlethwaite are also on hand.The film was meant to debut in theaters in 2000; and then early 2001. It was stuck on the shelf due to the distributor going bankrupt and was eventually released to video in late 2001. As an intended theatrical release, the film has polish, which can be observed in the haunting opening bull riding sequence. The story, however, is akin to the typical Lifetime flick, except mixed with stunning bull riding sequences. It's interesting seeing Ringwald 12-15 years after her halcyon years as a teen icon in the mid-80s (I much prefer her here as a woman). Despite the prevalence of country tunes on the soundtrack, the creators wisely throw in a couple of rock ditties, like the kinetic "Rock and Roll, Hoochie Koo" (1974). The movie's decent, I generally enjoyed it, but I wouldn't recommend it, except to fans of the cast or rodeos. The Braxton Ranch in the movie is actually the abode of Gary Leffew, the Rodeo Hall of Famer. THE FILM RUNS 1 hour 45 minutes and was shot in Santa Maria, California, and Las Vegas. WRITER: James Redford. GRADE: C+ (5.5/10)

bkoganbing As a fan of the Professional Bull Riders which has the elite best of the bull riders participating in that league I was surprised that they let their imprimatur on a film as wildly inaccurate as Cowboy Up. There are two incredibly big inaccuracies and a whole lot of little ones.First while I've seen the riders get on bulls with injuries that would keep them out of competition in most sports, there ain't no way that the PBR doctors would allow a man with a plate in his head compete as a bull rider. But that's what we're led to believe.But also the Professional Bull Riders is an elite league and to get to the Las Vegas finals you compete in that league, be it in the USA or in Canada, Australia, Brazil, and Mexico the other countries where the PBR has taken root. Nobody like Marcus Thomas is going to get into those PBR finals by winning a bunch of regular rodeo events, sanctioned or unsanctioned.I wish I could rate Cowboy Up higher because it looks like a project that the participants put a lot of heart and soul into. It's the story of two cowboy brothers, Kiefer Sutherland who works as a bullfighter whose job it is to haze the bulls and keep them injuring the riders and the second is aspiring bull rider Marcus Thomas.As I said before Thomas has a plate in his head as a result of a bad fall and encounter with a bovine. This would be a career ending injury even in bull riding, but we're just not going to tell anyone about it. Thomas even though he's keeping company with Molly Ringwald also has an eye on rodeo groupie Darryl Hannah. Both the injury and the romance cause a break between the brothers.Sad to say that this film will not rank up there with 8 Seconds, The Lusty Men, J.W. Coop, or Junior Bonner as a great rodeo film.

UK_Melia Might be some weak spoilers within. I'll try to be careful -I know next to nothing about rodeo life, bullriding, rodeo clowns or any of that stuff and that may have been a hindrance to the enjoyment of this film. Or maybe it helped as I've been reading that this film's on the unrealistic side. But that's okay, it's entertainment either way.The script was weak and it was disappointing to see the female roles downplayed so much - especially Daryl Hannah's because one of the things that hooked my interest about this movie was the possible conflict of brother against brother over a woman. But that part was never developed much. I think I would have enjoyed this more if the whole movie was about that. I'm still not sure what purpose Molly Ringwald's character served in this.But there are lots of good things about 'Cowboy Up'. I loved seeing a tough guy cowboy downloading stuff on a laptop. That really pleased my geeky self. The slow motion action sequences were wonderful as well. And while I don't know much about rodeo, I very much enjoyed the riding scenes.Anyway, On a scale of 1 - 10, I'd give this a six. See it if you like Kiefer because he's wonderful in this. I love to see him in a good guy role like this.

tedg Spoilers hereinThe losers are only a few: the writer and Daryl Hannah. Daryl because she should be working at more challenging parts right now. Regarding the script, you can smell a Redford a mile away: cloying sentimentality, mechanical plot evolution, subconscious conflation of nature with goodness and freedom. This script is really bad: one can see the remnants of the formula: switching lovers mirrored by switching destinies. The curse of emotionally jailed parents. The challenge. The balance of victory and defeat. The nature-specific enlightenment at the end. Please advise this kid to go into another line or to radically reinvent himself.The winners are enough to keep this from being a waste. Most of the actors are strong enough to put something where the writer did not. Postlethwaite has one real scene and is memorable. Really. Sutherland and Dillon show they are better than the material. But the one that fascinates me is Molly Ringwald. She debuted in a quirky, actorly adaptation of `the Tempest' with Susan Sarandon and Raul Julia. She did a Godard free-style adaptation of `King Lear' with Woody Allen! In between, she had the unfortunate success of some cheap personality roles. Since then, she's been cruising. Will she come back from the dead? I see she is signed up for Greenaway's next project, `Luper.' He is the most intelligent mind in film today, so that seems promising.But here, she is background. A shame I say.Another winner: the sound designer. This has great sound. Fortunately they didn't lard it up with honk-a-glitz so far as the songs -- but the sound is what impressed me.Ted's evaluation: 2 of 4 -- has some interesting elements.