Watch Junior Bonner For Free

Highly Overrated But Still Good

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Blistering performances.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

JUNIOR BONNER marks a change of pace for western director Sam Peckinpah; it's one of the few films he made suitable for family viewing. Steve McQueen stars as an ageing rodeo rider who returns home to once more compete on the circuit, taking time to romance a beautiful woman and falling out with his family members in the meantime. The only real way you can tell this is a Peckinpah movie is in the lovingly-captured slow-motion bull-riding scenes. The rest is rather middling, as it turns out; McQueen is a good actor, there's no denying that, but his character doesn't have much to do here. This is primarily a slice of life drama rather than anything else, and other than a few volatile moments featuring the reliable Joe Don Baker, little of note occurs.

Much like The Ballad of Cable Hogue, Junior Bonner was released following a "typical" Sam Peckinpah film. Violence, terror, sexual intrigue and gritty realism dominated the style of Straw Dogs, but this film could not be more different. Starring Steve McQueen as an aging rodeo cowboy determined to continue the life he leads, the story takes place in Prescott, Arizona where it is the annual Fourth of July Rodeo Competition and JR is attempting to ride a bull he had previously fallen off. While in town, he runs into his family including his estranged parents, his successful real estate brother and a beautiful young woman he makes eye contact with at a bar. The real heart of the story, though, is the history of this somewhat dysfunctional family and their attempt to reconcile the past with the inevitable change of the future. Compared to his other works, this is a very lighthearted piece for Peckinpah, but he is still capable of eliciting wonderfully nuanced performances out of his actors as well as capture a nostalgic air about this subset of American culture that continues to try and stave off growing progress and technological advancements. If nothing else, Peckinpah continued to defy expectations of himself as a director by showing his full range of capabilities. No guns, no excessive blood or violence, no rape or psychosexual themes. Simply a story about a family dealing with realistic issues. It may not be one of his strongest achievements, but it is definitely Peckinpah.

It is enjoyable to spend two hours with the realistic characters presented here (I will define an exception), but nothing of note happens during the entire movie. There is no plot. That is not to say this is a bad movie, it's not. Steve McQueen, as usual, sees to it that you get your money's worth. McQueen is excellent as the tired rodeo rider past his prime.No one else in the movie captures really our attention, capable as they may be. Joe Don Baker, as Junior's brother, is not nearly as mean-spirited as one might at first suspect. Ida Lupino is quite professional as Junior's cigar-smoking mother. Familiar members of the Peckinpah 'stock company' of actors, Ben Johnson, Dub Taylor, etc., do just fine as well, with the little they are asked to do.The problem is Robert Preston, who is neither charming nor believable as the scalawag dreamer dad, Ace Bonner. Preston comes off as more a gay-ish extrovert than an over-the-hill lecherous ne'er-do-well. Almost anyone could have played this tough, grizzled role better.Definitely worth seeing, but without the usual Peckinpah violence expectation.

The plot for JUNIOR BONNER is so simplistic you could just use the brief description offered by TCM and you have the whole story in a nutshell: "An aging rodeo rider returns home for a comeback and discovers that his parents are separated." STEVE McQUEEN is the rider and JOE DON BAKER is his more successful brother with other plans.He also discovers that he and his brother don't see eye to eye on how to build a future. His brother has some real estate plans on his mind while he's content to keep at the rodeo circuit as long as he's able to ride a horse. Naturally, they argue and fight throughout the story.There's plenty of background flavor but absolutely nothing much going on in the plot department. A weak sub-plot involving his estranged parents (ROBERT PRESTON and IDA LUPINO) is no help. Both of them are wasted, particularly Lupino who has little to do. BEN JOHNSON is another wasted cast member.If Fourth of July rodeos out west are your thing, along with occasional barroom brawls, you may find something to enjoy in this really dull Steve McQueen enterprise where he's determined to follow his destiny along a lonely path. He looks tired and says little as the aging rodeo rider, giving one of his most laconic performances.Summing up: A Sam Peckinpah film that is nothing to shout about.