{"id":20419,"date":"2020-04-30T15:25:19","date_gmt":"2020-04-30T22:25:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/?p=20419"},"modified":"2020-04-30T15:25:19","modified_gmt":"2020-04-30T22:25:19","slug":"bull-is-worth-a-go-round-for-arthouse-film-enthusiasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/?p=20419","title":{"rendered":"BULL is Worth a Go-Round for Arthouse Film Enthusiasts"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/01\/24_0008_B-merged.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-10493\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>This title from Samuel Goldwyn Films will be available\nfor rent and purchase May 1<sup>st<\/sup> on all major VOD platforms.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While there are plenty of features that reviewers like\nmyself know will strike a chord with the general public, there are other,\nsmaller titles that are clearly striving for something different. Some of them emphasize\na mood or kind of experience rather than a traditional Hollywood narrative. <em>Bull<\/em>\nis one of those efforts. It is an extraordinarily low-key and artfully made\nfeature that chooses to take a quiet and observational approach to its\ncharacters. That doesn\u2019t mean that that the picture isn\u2019t effective. While it\ntakes some time to get to know and understand the teenage lead and her unexpected\nfriend, they do make an impression and ultimately leave an imprint. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Bull-kid-with-helmet-1024x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20421\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Kris (Amber Havard) is a poor girl living in a rural Texas\ncommunity. With her mother in prison and grandparent\/guardian in poor health,\nthere\u2019s little keeping the youngster out of trouble. One night, Kris hangs out\nwith some friends. They decide to break into the house of an African-American\nneighbor named Abe (Rob Morgan), doing damage to the man\u2019s home and chicken\ncoop, as well as raiding his liquor cabinet. When she\u2019s caught in the act, the\ngirl and homeowner end up coming to an agreement. To avoid being charged by\npolice, she consents to clean up the home, as well as help her neighbor out at\nhis place of employment. It becomes a life-changing experience, as the teen\nends up not only traveling to various black rodeos, but also develops an\nappreciation for bull riding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Of course, the story isn\u2019t all that simple, as both of these\ncharacters struggle to make ends meet and find themselves suffering in the\nprocess. As parole looks less and less likely for Kris\u2019s mom, friends begin to\nencourage her to carry and deal drugs for them. Abe, who is in agony from the many\ninjuries over his career at the rodeo, is reliant on painkillers and drink to\ndiffuse his pain. He\u2019s also a proud man unwilling to take what he feels are\nlesser jobs in his field. These life choices have pushed away his ex (Yolanda\nRoss), who has simply had enough of what she believes are self-destructive patterns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Bull-morgan-CU-1024x489.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20422\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">While neither Kris nor Abe have any lengthy speeches about\ntheir predicament, it\u2019s pretty clear that they may be fighting a losing battle.\nInstead, between individual moments of happiness, more trouble arises. Kris\u2019\nbehavior early on isn\u2019t exactly endearing and the characters are flawed, often\nmaking errors and choices that can be tough to watch. However, as the two main\nprotagonists gradually befriend one another, they slowly win over viewers. As\nmentioned, there may not be any big emotional outbursts, but their stillness\nand quiet frustration is presented in an authentic and believable manner. Both\ncommand the screen from beginning to end. &nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/www.cinemastance.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/Bull-kids-walking-to-rodeo-1024x465.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-20423\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Admittedly, this isn\u2019t the type of movie that answers the questions\nit raises or resolves all the problems that the protagonists encounter. These\npeople don\u2019t have many options and are simply forced to exist day by day. In\nfact, the story leaves their lives just as open and uncertain as they were during\nthe opening scenes. Regardless, one is given a very specific and distinct\nimpression of the struggles that people in similar circumstances endure on a\ndaily basis. The movie works because of a sure hand behind-the-camera and an\nincredible cast who don\u2019t overplay their suffering and keep the feature feeling\ngrounded. It isn\u2019t necessarily a feel-good film for everyone, but those who\nenjoy arthouse fare may want to give <em>Bull<\/em> a go-round.&nbsp; <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This title from Samuel Goldwyn Films will be available for rent and purchase May 1st on all major VOD platforms. While there are plenty of features that reviewers like myself know will strike a chord with the general public, there are other, smaller titles that are clearly striving for something different. Some of them emphasize [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":20420,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[198,1187,3659,3661,3662,3663,3672,6251,17122,17263,19787],"class_list":["post-20419","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-movie-reviews","tag-198","tag-amber-havard","tag-bull","tag-bull-film-review","tag-bull-movie-review","tag-bull-review","tag-bullriding","tag-drama","tag-rob-morgan","tag-rodeo","tag-texas"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20419","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=20419"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20419\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=20419"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=20419"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/cinemastance.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=20419"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}