Buck Review
By David Kempler
Don't Pass This Buck
It's hard to imagine that seeing a documentary about a real-life horse whisperer could take on a the feel of watching a Zen Master, but "Buck", Cindy Meehl's examination of Buck Brannaman, creates just that effect. Buck is larger than life in a way that if I saw a character like him in fiction, I would yawn and wave it away as garbage. A man like him was profiled in Robert Redford's film about a horse whisperer (Brannaman served as an advisor) and I wasn't all that impressed by the fictionalized version.
Buck is larger than life, yet as true to what we yearn for in our lives and in the people we hope to emulate. I know that this must sound like tripe, but I bought into what Meehl and Buck are selling. It is Buck's contention that you cannot train a horse until you understand yourself. While a lot of cowboys might scoff at that, they would probably be convinced otherwise by sitting down to watch Buck at work, either in person on the screen.
Buck spends nine months a year traveling around America, giving clinics to people who want to get control over their problem horses. Some of the horses bite, kick, run away, and behave in ways that prevent their being useful to the people who want to employ them. Meehl's camera follows him to ranches that span the country, all the while presenting Buck as the most honest, caring - yet stern when necessary - fellow you have probably ever come across. He's kind of like how fathers used to be presented on television in the 50's and 60's.
At each stop we watch Buck weave magic over horses, and more importantly over the people who pay for the privilege of his services. One by one, they look into the camera and sing his praises, many of them astonished beyond belief. And we see the amazing demeanor and results, as well.
To add to the almost mystical feeling of it all, the back-story on Buck is filled with an insane amount of cruelty that he felt at the hands of his father, who routinely whipped him, while dragging him around as a young rope trick performer at cowboy shows. One day, his gym teacher sees the welts, and along with the help of a law enforcement officer, gets Buck out of the house and into the home of foster parents, who teach him that there is no need for cruelty, but there are no free rides, either.
In his new environs, Buck begins to flourish, both personally and professionally, until he one day comes across a man who trains horses without any cruelty, but rather by getting to know the animal and becoming one with them. He immediately knows he has found his life calling and he makes it into a life that is filled with joy and accomplishment. That he could overcome his upbringing with no apparent bitterness is incredible enough, but that he can transmit this to others is a wonder to behold. One childhood friend breaks down crying while relating Buck's early years.
I'm as cynical as they come, and I kept waiting for the darkness inside Buck to make him more three dimensional. It never comes. Perhaps it exists but it is not revealed here, but for a little while, at least, it was fulfilling to think that maybe there are people who can lead great lives with very little personal faults. Whether that is true or not is irrelevant. What is relevant is that "Buck" manages to teach while remaining extremely entertaining. Yup, I liked this one.
