Gentlemen Broncos
Gentlemen Broncos | |
---|---|
![]() Promotional poster | |
Directed by | Jared Hess |
Written by | Jared and Jerusha Hess |
Produced by | Mike White John J. Kelly |
Starring | Michael Angarano Jemaine Clement Jennifer Coolidge Sam Rockwell |
Cinematography | Munn Powell |
Edited by | Yuka Ruell |
Music by | David Wingo |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Fox Searchlight Pictures |
Release dates |
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Running time | 89 minutes[1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $10 million[2] |
Box office | $118,192[2] |
Gentlemen Broncos is a 2009 comedy film written by Jared and Jerusha Hess, and directed by Jared Hess. The film stars Michael Angarano, Jemaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge, and Sam Rockwell.
Plot
Benjamin Purvis lives with his mother Judith, who designs tacky clothes and makes rock hard popcorn balls. Judith and Benjamin make ends meet by working at a women's retail clothing store. Benjamin spends his spare time writing science fiction stories, and he has recently completed a story called "Yeast Lords" that centers on a hero named Bronco, modeled after his long-dead father.
At a two-day writing camp for aspiring fantasy and science fiction authors, Benjamin attends lectures by his idol Ronald Chevalier. Chevalier announces a contest for the writers, in which the winner's story will be published nationally. After encouragement from fellow camper Tabitha, Benjamin submits "Yeast Lords". Tabatha shows the story to her friend Lonnie Donaho who runs an ultra low-budget video production company. Lonnie gives Benjamin a post-dated check for $500 and begins adapting "Yeast Lords" into a film.
Throughout the film, portions of "Yeast Lords" are enacted as Benjamin imagines it. Bronco is infinitely masculine, and he valiantly struggles with a villain over yeast production. As Chevalier reviews the stories from the campers, he gets a call from his publisher, rejecting his latest manuscript. Panicked, he picks up Benjamin's story, and it sparks his imagination. Chevalier changes Bronco into Brutus, an extremely effeminate transgendered hero, but otherwise leaves the story intact. His publisher loves it, and the novel is rushed into production.
Benjamin is sickened to see how badly Donaho has adapted his work, and he abruptly leaves the local premiere of the film with Tabatha. They go to a bookstore where he discovers Chevalier's plagiarism. He confronts Chevalier at a local book signing, assaulting him with some merchandise Chevalier had offered him in exchange for keeping his theft quiet. Judith comes to visit her son in jail to give him his birthday present. She hands him a box of manuscripts, all officially bound by the Writers Guild of America. She explains that she has been registering all his stories with them since he was seven years old, thinking they would make a nice keepsake for his children.
"Yeast Lords" is one of the registered stories. The film ends with copies of Chevalier's novel being replaced on store shelves with Benjamin's. Over the closing credits, he sits and proudly watches a fashion show featuring his mother's designs.
Cast
- Michael Angarano as Benjamin Purvis
- Jemaine Clement as Dr. Ronald Chevalier
- Sam Rockwell as Bronco/Brutus, the fictional story's title character Bronco, who appears in book-come-to-life sequences under two guises: one in the teenager's story and the other (renamed Brutus) in Chevalier's story.[3]
- Jennifer Coolidge as Judith Purvis[4]
- Suzanne May as Vanaya/Venonka, the heroine in the fictional stories
- Halley Feiffer as Tabatha Jenkins
- Héctor Jiménez as Lonnie Donaho (allegedly based on Stephen Groo)
- Josh Pais as Todd Keefe
- Edgar Oliver as Duncan/Lord Daysius
- Mike White as Dusty
Production
In December 2007, JoBlo.com reported that Jared and Jerusha Hess had signed with Fox Searchlight Pictures to produce Gentlemen Broncos, based on a spec script they had written. The deal called for Jared Hess to direct and Mike White, who co-wrote Nacho Libre with them, to produce. Filming began in March 2008 in Utah.[5] Much of the film was shot in Tooele, UT. In early August 2008, work on an Internet viral marketing began, which had a video introducing the character of Ronald Chevalier.[6] A second video was released in October 2008.[7] A trailer was released on August 19, 2009. Some of the artwork in the opening credits is by fantasy and science fiction artist David Lee Anderson.
Release
Gentlemen Broncos was intended to be released theatrically on October 30, 2009, but due to poor reviews the national release was pulled from theaters.
Reception
The film received mostly negative reviews and holds a 18% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on 78 reviews by critics.[8] Selected top critics gave the film 8% based on 24 reviews.[9] Metacritic gave it a generally unfavorable 28 out of 100 based on 21 reviews.[10]
Although unpopular with critics, the film has gained a cult following.
The film is nominated for the Podcast Awards.[11]
Home media
Gentlemen Broncos was released on DVD and Blu-ray on March 2, 2010.[12]
Soundtrack
- "In the Year 2525"
- Written by Rick Evans
- Performed by Zager & Evans
- "Act Naturally"
- Written by Voni Morrison and Johnny Russell
- Performed by Buck Owens
- "Cedar Dreams", "Twilight", "First Flight", "Winds of Stillness"
- Written and performed by John Two-Hawks
- "What a Town"
- Written by Bobby Charles and Richard Claire Danko
- Performed by David Bromberg
- "John Sebastions's Girl"
- Written and performed by Shara Joyce and Rory O'Donoghue
- "The Oh of Pleasure"
- Written and performed by Ray Lynch and Tom Canning
- "Beautiful Girl"
- Written by Patrick Shart and Mark Stevens[disambiguation needed]
- "Wind of Change"
- Written by Klaus Meine
- Performed by Scorpions
- "The New World Anthem"
- Written and performed by Jeremy Wall
- "Celtic Voyage"
- Written by Joel Bevan
- "Moment of Truth"
- Written by Dan Graham
- "Celestial Soda Pop", "Tiny Geometries"
- Written and performed by Ray Lynch
- "Just Like Jesse James"
- Written by Diane Warren and Desmond Child
- Performed by Cher
- "Don Carlos"
- Written and performed by Robert Miller[disambiguation needed]
- "Carry on Wayward Son"
- Written by Kerry Livgren
- Performed by Kansas
- "Paranoid"
- Written by John Osbourne, Tony Iommi, Terence Butler and William Ward
- Performed by Black Sabbath
References
- ^ "GENTLEMEN BRONCOS (12A)". British Board of Film Classification. 2009-10-07. Retrieved 2012-01-18.
- ^ a b Gentlemen Broncos at Box Office Mojo
- ^ Boyd, Denys (January 31, 2008). "Rockwell, Angarano, and Clement Join Jared Hess' Gentlemen Broncos". The Hollywood Reporter.
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(help) - ^ Kit, Borys (March 17, 2008). "Jennifer Coolidge Joins Gentleman Broncos". The Hollywood Reporter.
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(help) - ^ Sampson, Mike (December 19, 2007). "Jared Hess' next is..." JoBlo.com. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ Billington, Alex (August 11, 2008). "Gentlemen Broncos Viral Begins - Dr. Ronald Chevalier Videos". FirstShowing.net. Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ Tyler, Josh (October 23, 2008). "Who Is Dr. Ronald Chevalier?". Retrieved November 5, 2008.
- ^ "Gentlemen Broncos". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ "Gentlemen Broncos". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ "Gentlemen Broncos". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 10, 2011.
- ^ Bloody Guests On Award Nominated Podcast
- ^ "Gentlemen Broncos (2009)". VideoETA.com. Retrieved January 15, 2009.
External links
- Official website
- Gentlemen Broncos at IMDb
- Gentlemen Broncos at AllMovie
- Gentlemen Broncos at Box Office Mojo
- Gentlemen Broncos at Rotten Tomatoes
- Frosty (February 28, 2008). "Michael Angarano Gives Some New Details on Jared Hess' Next Film Gentlemen Broncos". Collider.com.