Buck

Winner of an Audience Award at Sundance, Cindy Meehl's documentary Buck serves up an amiable look at charismatic cowboy Buck Brannaman, the real-life “horse whisperer” who inspired Nicholas Evans' 1995 novel (made into a 1998 film by Robert Redford, who also starred). Specializing in helping trainers and riders, Brannaman insists with understated eloquence that it is fundamentally wrong to use traditional (often violent) methods of fear and punishment to break in a horse, instead counseling patience, compassion, and perseverance. At one point, soft-spoken Brannaman berates the owner of an aggressive, brain-damaged 3-year-old colt, blaming the woman's own psychological problems for the animal's violent behavior. Viewers will learn that the horse whisperer evolved his empathetic philosophy the hard way. Born in 1962, Dan “Buckshot” Brannaman performed tricks with his brother Bill (dubbed Smokie). Devastated by their mother's death, the boys were often abused and whipped by their alcoholic father. After a coach noticed Buck's wounds, the boy was adopted by a foster family who introduced him to caring for horses. As a young man, Buck became a protégé of famed natural-horsemanship proponent Ray Hunt, learning and then subsequently teaching equine-human psychology. Moving but never maudlin, Buck delivers an inspiring profile of a fascinating figure. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD extras include audio commentary with film subject Buck Brannaman, director Cindy Meehl, and producer Julie Goldman; deleted scenes (28 min.); and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning profile.] (S. Granger)