The Rider

The joy of doing what you love burns away any pain. For Brady, a rodeo rider who just emerged from a coma, the joy and pain come in equal measure. Brady is told not to ride again. "Play the cards you are dealt," says his father "let it go." Yet Brady's purpose in life is hitched to riding horses. Also, living in a trailer and eating rabbit soup is not the stuff of champions. In the starlight, around a campfire with friends, listening to his little sister sing simple yet beautiful songs, and in dreams, Brady ponders his next moves.

This authentic and heart-rending film integrates the real lives of the actors into the story. It is balanced in its portrayal and rightly does not cast judgment. The cinematography is up close and intimate so that emotions are revealed in faces and eyes (horse and human) as much as words. While the director, actors and horses are just starting out in their film making careers and it shows, there is power and magic in how genuine they are in their portrayals. In a sense, they have been preparing for this film their entire lives. Human nature and the real West are on display here, and there is as much beauty in that as there is in the prairie sunrise. Seen at the Toronto International Film Festival.