Evengyny
Thanks for the memories!
RipDelight
This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.
Erica Derrick
By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.
Roxie
The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;
noname
Both good and bad reviews make valid points. Plot-wise...Thismoviewill sometimes resemble'The Field" amovie I thinkis really wonderfulwith WilliamHarris, John Hurt, Sean Bean, Tom Berringer It'll take a while to see what I mean. Broken Fences is paced slowlyandit was difficult tosee the pont the first half hour...and then, to me,it became very predictable...still, I foundit engaging from the start. I still don't know what the dramatic opening shot exactluy refers to.I do think this is worth watching...especially if you have notseen the vastly superior 'The Field" which I'd bet thedirector offences studied acutely.
On it's own...on the good side...the movie initially createws enough confusion that it kept my curiosity up...knowing it was gonna be a movie that revealed elements in it's future.Not great but not bad...worth looking at.
kuno-5
This movie is as tedious as they get with a weak story line, wooden acting, one cliché after another and an embarrassingly contrived ending. Don't waste your time - you will be disappointed.As the story opened I quickly got the feeling that things in this place move along at a glacial pace and everyone speaks in stereotyped cowboy English. I can't believe there is still a script writer in America who would make a character say "Howdy sheriff". It goes downhill from there. I really can't understand how this film is getting any glowing reviews. Maybe they are all relatives of the director or investors in the film. It really is the only possible explanation.
jntwiles
I really enjoyed this film! The cinematography is beautiful... great locations and directing. I hadn't heard of Troy McGatlin before but I would like to see more of his work. The lead character in the film did an amazing job. What a great actor! The location of this film (Maybe Colorado or Montana) is also an important character. I would call the location a character because it plays such an important role to who these people are and why they act the way they do. You really feel like you're there with the characters. Interesting storyline and overall really well done! A lot more to it than originally meets the eye. This film is about father/son relationships, life in a small town, moving on from our past and mending our own "broken fences." I would definitely recommend this film to anyone.
tdmjdm
A lifetime of bad luck threatens a father and son's reunion, as old wounds resurface and new ones are opened in Broken Fences, Troy McGatlin's fusion of family drama and contemporary western.Joe Simmons (Jan Van Sickle) is a quiet and simple man who prefers to spend his days alone working on his ranch. He gets up at 5:00 a.m. and makes sure that the horses, cattle, and chickens are fed before he sits down to eat. Joe lives this life of solitude by choice, but we get a hint early on that Joe has cut himself off from the world a little too much. When he goes to the town's only store, he's surprised to find his friend no longer owns the place – and hasn't for quite some time. Joe might be a little bit lonely, but he's found his routine and he likes it just fine.But Joe's life of peace is unexpectedly disrupted when he gets a phone call from his estranged son Dylan, who informs him that he was recently paroled from jail and is looking for a place to stay. Though it's only hinted at, it's clear that Joe and Dylan have a long tumultuous history, and Joe is originally unwilling to take him in, even temporarily. But Joe's won't let his boy live on the streets, and he soon finds himself outside the jail, collecting his son.Dylan promises his father that he's a changed man, and it's easy to believe him. He speaks softly, works hard, and the only time he gets a fiery look in his eye is when he fervently tells his father that he'll never go back to prison again. Dylan has a host of skeletons in his closet, but maybe undeservedly so. He's a simple-minded boy who seems to be followed by a host of bad luck. A traumatizing incident in Dylan's teenage years left him emotionally scarred and in the company of a few bad seeds. Dylan was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it ended up costing him 6 years of his life behind bars.Even though Dylan promises he's turned a new leaf, things are uneasy between the two from the very beginning. They eat in silence, work in silence, and spend time on opposite ends of the ranch. But Joe senses a change in Dylan that he can't deny – maybe his son really has turned his life around. In their first candid moment, Dylan convinces Joe to ask a local shopkeeper out on a date. Things between the two men seem to be getting better, until Dylan's streak of bad luck and bad behavior catches up to him. From there, the story unfolds in unexpected directions until the shocking third act that you won't see coming.Broken Fences carefully explores this relationship between father and son without resorting to clichés. It never asks the audience an obvious question, only to respond with an even more obvious answer. McGatlin has crafted a fine little film that will engage you and challenge you until the end. And what an end it is.