As a divine sort of cowboy, Buck Brannaman has dedicated his life to sharing his extraordinary talent of communicating with horses. Many may know him better as an inspiration for the “The Horse Whisperer,” but Brannaman now has his own big-screen picture, “Buck.”
In this documentary directed by Cindy Meehl, Brannaman drives from state to state nine months out of every year to host clinics for ranch and horse owners. Loyal friends and newcomers attend these clinics, hopeful to break the habits of “naughty” or “grumpy” colts. But it isn’t until they see Brannaman’s calm, polite and sincere interactions with horses that they realize he’s not there for just the horses — he’s there for the trainers.
“A lot of times, rather than helping people with horse problems, I’m helping horses with people problems,” Brannaman said during the documentary, adding that in his experience, horses mirror the treatment and problems of their owners.
The film carries on that theme all throughout, constantly relating raising a horse to raising a child. Mixed in with the beautiful landscapes and ranches of many Western states like Montana and California, Brannaman’s clinics become an eye-opening experience for the participants, as well as heart-wrenching exposure to the human influence on their well-loved horses.
However, underlying the message that horses quickly become a product of either effective or ineffective parenting, the documentary exposes the truth behind Brannaman’s gift to communicate with and tame almost any horse.
Between testimonials and firsthand accounts of Brannaman’s “horse whispering” talent, the documentary wedges photographs and clips of Brannaman and his brother when they were children. At one point, after showing a cereal commercial clip of the boys' rope tricks from that made them household names, Brannaman shared a heart-wrenching experience, exemplifying the verbal and physical abuse he and his brother were subjected to by their father — every day. Despite their popularity and success, they were at the mercy of their father’s fist. It wasn’t until the community rallied support for the two boys that they were finally free from the father’s wrath.
Though Brannaman said his childhood could have easily taken him down a different, and maybe more destructive, path, he and his foster father found that horses kept Brannaman busy. And in horses, Brannaman found his true calling. Robert Redford even makes an appearance in the documentary, not only to talk about Brannaman’s extensive work with “The Horse Whisperer,” but to illuminate the “humanity beaming from Buck,” which was evident in his first impression of the quiet cowboy.
As the documentary flips between clinics, time spent with his wife and daughter, and memories from a painful past, Brannaman explores the idea that horses are no different than humans and that colts are no different than newborn babies — and that’s how he treats every tough case. When he was able to calm and change a horse, some called it voodoo or simply accepted it as a miracle, Brannaman is constantly proving to horse owners that horses, or colts, are just scared, skeptical and hesitant, and that it takes patience to help get them to trust.
Against the rolling mountains and grassy ranches, the documentary is a roller coaster of events, jumping from one clinic to another, each having a different part to play in Brannaman’s story. With decades of experience in colt-breaking, the more miraculous story in the film is the breaking of Brannaman and pushing himself to move on. It’s an incredibly affectionate story, bound to keep you on the edge of your seat, but it leaves cowboys and city people alike contemplating their subconscious effect on those around them.
It’s a documentary for the entire family — a miraculous story bringing the meaning of family and parenting to a new level, while offering hope to those who may be mistreated.
"Buck" is rated PG for theatrical elements, mild language and an injury; running time: 88 minutes.
Email: corton@desnews.com