Builds an entire world in the span of one corner of North Philadelphia, bringing to vivid life this culture of urban cowboys and those struggling to preserve it.

| Original Score: 4/4 | Apr 26, 2021

The film captures a fascinating urban subculture threatened with extinction -- and Elba's fans will follow the Golden-Globe-winning Luther star anywhere, including horseback.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 9, 2021

Some incredible cinematography, but it's incredibly sleepy all the way through.

| Apr 6, 2021

It's worth watching because the setting is so interesting and the performances so strong, but it's a little uneven.

| Apr 6, 2021

Your classic story about an irritable young man redeemed by an animal, and the embrace of a community. But it's satisfying even so, largely because watching Elba is such a pleasure.

| Apr 3, 2021

Concrete Cowboy is gorgeously photographed, with many of the riding scenes taking place in the magic sunset hour or under the lights of the city and in the rain...

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 3, 2021

It's the incidental details, however, including vérité footage of the Fletcher Street riders discussing the whitewashing of black horsemen from Hollywood history, that have undeniable power. A shame, ultimately, that the clichés... are so rife.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 2, 2021

Concrete Cowboy is far from perfect, but it's vividly alive. If the choice must be between that and careful craftsmanship, life carries the day.

| Apr 2, 2021

As an at-risk teen drama, the film is passable. As a portrait of a community, it's eye-opening.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 2, 2021

[A] rote drama...

| Apr 2, 2021

An inner-city western featuring Black cowboys in a real-life setting deserves celebrating and the dynamite teamwork of Idris Elba and young Caleb McLaughlin head off the father-son cliches in the script to keep you riveted.

| Apr 2, 2021

[It] finds fresh ways to update a classic coming-of-age story - not least because it's set not on some bucolic farmland or dusty ranch but in the streets of North Philadelphia, which has nurtured Black equestrians for generations.

| Original Score: B | Apr 2, 2021

The film is a shrine to a hardy subculture, its people, and the animals they love. Long may they run.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 2, 2021

"Concrete Cowboy" rolls in enough of that tale to whet appetites, but around this campfire it seems there's more story to be told.

| Original Score: B | Apr 2, 2021

Staub and co-writer Dan Walser took everything into their own hands. The result dilutes the most inspiring elements of the Black cowboys' legacy by cluttering the drama with trite beats.

| Original Score: C | Apr 2, 2021

If it cleaves too close to convention and doesn't land the ending, Concrete Cowboy is a striking debut, celebrating a long-overlooked tradition of Black cowboys via visually powerful filmmaking.

| Original Score: 3/5 | Apr 1, 2021

Harp's mix of old-school masculinity, love of animals and innate paternal instincts suits Elba perfectly.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 1, 2021

While I admit I would have preferred a documentary about the people who have passed this tradition down from generation to generation, director Ricky Staub's fictional feature serves as a worthwhile introduction.

| Original Score: 3/4 | Apr 1, 2021

The movie's convincing accretion of detail and its affectionate fictionalization of an actual subculture are disarming.

| Apr 1, 2021

Five minutes into Concrete Cowboy, and you already know where the story is heading. But you won't mind moseying on down the familiar narrative, either.

| Mar 31, 2021