The Mustang

Quiet, understated and unforgettable, The Mustang is a winner by five lengths.

The Mustang becomes an emotional powerhouse in its final act.

Brilliantly, Schoenaerts almost underplays Roman’s anger, lumbering slowly like a wounded animal, the downward slope of his eyes conveying a howl of rage. It’s an electrifying performance.

Fascinating and frequently compelling, The Mustang is a hybrid, the unlikely combination of genres you wouldn’t think go together but are able to coexist thanks to an exceptional leading performance.

Luckily, The Mustang overcomes its most predictable story beats thanks to de Clermont-Tonnerre’s intimate, unfussy style and a quietly captivating performance by Schoenaerts.

The Mustang is direct and almost perilously familiar — it draws from both westerns and prison movies — yet it is also attractively filigreed with surprising faces, unusual genre notes and luminous, evanescent beauty.

The initial inspiration was clearly there, but the execution simply falls short.

Matthias Schoenaerts gives a completely believable, intense performance as Roman Coleman in an excellent character study of a convict, imprisoned for a rash violent act, who finds himself by learning to train wild stallions. Based on an actual government program, the movie manages to be highly emotional without being soppy or sentimental, thanks to the wonderful acting of Schoenaerts and Bruce Dern and the rest of the cast. The scenery is magnificent, and the direction is excellent, concentrating on the story and characters and not tricky camera angles. Only an over-the-top performance by Coleman’s “evil” cellmate blemishes a wonderful film. Luckily we don’t see much of the cellmate or the sentimental exchanges with the woman whom Coleman has wronged, although she is quite well-played by Gideon Adlon.

Laure has a daunting task, to lighten up this prison, she is aware of her arena and hence won't waste her time on the firecrackers. The Mustang Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre, the director, has a robust attitude. Not towards her film but her characters. Brimmed with empathy, the pull back of these characters from our lobby where we root for them, is perpetually poetic. For, set in a prison, the characters are often questionable. They come under the "everyone deserves a second chance" category, which Laure does make it clear as each of them confesses about the duration of their crime and the bitter aftermath that they have been tasting since then. Now, these characters, as anyone would do, blend in with us. As all of them gets to show a softer, a more adaptable, side of theirs. But this is what's fascinating about Laure's film. As soon as you are ready to accept them, she pushes them away from you by either revealing another inedible information about them, or ordering them to walk on some horrible passage. And she does it brilliantly. Since, as mentioned before, these characters reap questions on their personalities long before the film even starts, the expression of drawing them to the darker side, isn't loud, but just a little push. So nuanced and warm is her touch on these characters, that the storytelling itself gets lost into them. As far as plot is concerned, it is basically the same, getting over your past through changing the present for the future generations, sort of thing. But what's captivating along with the cast's performance is the behavior of these characters. As a wild animal, they are portrayed, and hunt and prey, they do. Metaphor for our host Roman's (Matthias Schoenaerts) loved ones, the horse doesn't get that much to do individually and instead walks through the montages of bridging with its master and helping him cross the bridge, with a title The Mustang.

The Mustang has an awful lot of heart, and some very convincing performances. But it doesn't quite get off the ground as several scenes boil down to the protagonist angrily arguing with a horse. It's not always clear what he wants out of the creature. Other threads are left dangling, with both his relationship with his inmate friend and his daughter come to unsatisfying conclusions.

Several states in our country have convict rehabilitation programs that involve animals. This movie is about one of such programs where inmates tame wild horses that later are being sold on auctions. The protagonist Roman is a buffed-up guy who has problems dealing with people. In a way he is as wild as the horse that the program management paired him with. Neither of them are free while being free-spirited; both of them have temper problem. Each one of them is a “mustang”. But who is taming who? Roman is played by Matthias Schoenaerts, the actor who I really like. He does not have much to say in this role but his acting is still magnificent. Many other inmates are not by actors but prisoners who play themselves. Needless to say, the movie feels quite authentic. The film is slow and atmospheric, even though as most prison movies do, it has an ample dose of violence. I did like the movie, mostly because of my favorite actor’s performance. Your mileage might vary.

Cliche as hell. Horses are out. Super boring. Not one bit of interesting or innovative cinematography. The worst main character.