8 Seconds
2/4
Starring: Luke Perry, Cynthia Geary, Stephen Baldwin, James Rebhorn, Carrie Snodgress
Rated PG-13 for Language
I started rolling my eyes as soon as this movie started. I'm not one to criticize a movie for using a plot formula for telling its story. After all, movies like "Avatar" and just about every romantic comedy ever made have used such templates as assets. But when a film opens at sunrise with the plucky innocent of a hero chopping wood until his mother calls him in for breakfast, you're in trouble.
"8 Seconds" tells the story of Lane Frost (Perry), a young rodeo rider whose career ascended to soaring heights before it ended suddenly at its peak. Truth be told, the sports movie aspect of the film is hopelessly generic. Every scene and every line is completely predictable. In fact, it's so cliché that a smarter movie would have played it for satire. Every t is crossed in this movie, and director John G. Alvidsen doesn't find a way to breathe life into it.
What saves the film from being unbearably tedious are the strong performances by the two leads, the late Luke Perry and then-newcomer Cynthia Geary, who plays Kelly, the love of his life. Their relationship is propelled by a sort of high school innocence and sweetness that's totally endearing. Perry and Geary have a lot of natural chemistry together that's established from the first time they share the screen, and it's never forced. The supporting performances by Stephen Baldwin and Carrie Snodgress are fine as Lane's best friend Tuff and his mother Elsie, but they wisely cede the spotlight to the real stars of the film. The weak link is James Rebhorn. Rebhorn was a good character actor, but he was sorely miscast as the stern father who never gave praise. The actor is out of his range, and he is never able to sell the character.
Watching this movie, I'm wondering how cinematic rodeo riding actually is. The sport has been featured in a number of films, and Alvidsen presents it with as much energy as possible, but ultimately it's the same thing each time. There's really nothing there that can sustain the film. Perhaps that's why the sports movie aspect of the film seems so cliché and silly. When the film concentrates on the relationship between Lane and Kelly, the film is on surer ground. The strength of the performances elevates the traditional highs and lows of a showbiz romance, and the emotional intelligence of the dialogue makes it feel more real. But one would think that Alvidsen, who made the overrated "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid" would have been able to find a way to capture the thrill of the rodeo on film.
"8 Seconds" is serviceable as a biopic of the week about a man whose life story probably wasn't cinematic enough for the film treatment to begin with. But the climax is just wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. It's really bad. It's so badly staged, so rushed, and so quick that it loses all of its emotional payoff. What should have been heart-stopping is over so fast that the audience is never given time to process it before the aftermath is dealt with. A scene like this has to have not only the appropriate build-up but time it needs to ruminate in its own juices.
This was never going to be a great movie, but a serviceable sports movie wasn't out of the question. But Alvidsen's inability to convey the appeal of the sport to the audience and the royally botched ending make it a permanent resident of the discount DVD bin or a combo pack. Nothing worth seeking out.
Starring: Luke Perry, Cynthia Geary, Stephen Baldwin, James Rebhorn, Carrie Snodgress
Rated PG-13 for Language
I started rolling my eyes as soon as this movie started. I'm not one to criticize a movie for using a plot formula for telling its story. After all, movies like "Avatar" and just about every romantic comedy ever made have used such templates as assets. But when a film opens at sunrise with the plucky innocent of a hero chopping wood until his mother calls him in for breakfast, you're in trouble.
"8 Seconds" tells the story of Lane Frost (Perry), a young rodeo rider whose career ascended to soaring heights before it ended suddenly at its peak. Truth be told, the sports movie aspect of the film is hopelessly generic. Every scene and every line is completely predictable. In fact, it's so cliché that a smarter movie would have played it for satire. Every t is crossed in this movie, and director John G. Alvidsen doesn't find a way to breathe life into it.
What saves the film from being unbearably tedious are the strong performances by the two leads, the late Luke Perry and then-newcomer Cynthia Geary, who plays Kelly, the love of his life. Their relationship is propelled by a sort of high school innocence and sweetness that's totally endearing. Perry and Geary have a lot of natural chemistry together that's established from the first time they share the screen, and it's never forced. The supporting performances by Stephen Baldwin and Carrie Snodgress are fine as Lane's best friend Tuff and his mother Elsie, but they wisely cede the spotlight to the real stars of the film. The weak link is James Rebhorn. Rebhorn was a good character actor, but he was sorely miscast as the stern father who never gave praise. The actor is out of his range, and he is never able to sell the character.
Watching this movie, I'm wondering how cinematic rodeo riding actually is. The sport has been featured in a number of films, and Alvidsen presents it with as much energy as possible, but ultimately it's the same thing each time. There's really nothing there that can sustain the film. Perhaps that's why the sports movie aspect of the film seems so cliché and silly. When the film concentrates on the relationship between Lane and Kelly, the film is on surer ground. The strength of the performances elevates the traditional highs and lows of a showbiz romance, and the emotional intelligence of the dialogue makes it feel more real. But one would think that Alvidsen, who made the overrated "Rocky" and "The Karate Kid" would have been able to find a way to capture the thrill of the rodeo on film.
"8 Seconds" is serviceable as a biopic of the week about a man whose life story probably wasn't cinematic enough for the film treatment to begin with. But the climax is just wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong. It's really bad. It's so badly staged, so rushed, and so quick that it loses all of its emotional payoff. What should have been heart-stopping is over so fast that the audience is never given time to process it before the aftermath is dealt with. A scene like this has to have not only the appropriate build-up but time it needs to ruminate in its own juices.
This was never going to be a great movie, but a serviceable sports movie wasn't out of the question. But Alvidsen's inability to convey the appeal of the sport to the audience and the royally botched ending make it a permanent resident of the discount DVD bin or a combo pack. Nothing worth seeking out.
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