It's symbolism is a bit obvious (i.e. when McQueen literally gets menaced by modernity) but that plays into the movie's narrative simplicity which works because the cast is uniformly good and Pekinpah clearly loves this weird subculture.

Nothing about it was interesting. The dialog was horrendous. The actors seemed to be going through the motions to please the director. Steve McQueen's worst film.

I found this a rather slow and bland film. Steve McQueen is his usual cool self but I didn't feel engrossed by it and the plot seemed a little thin, so I wouldn't recommend it.

A great early 70's film.

Perhaps it's because I couldn't care less about the rodeo, but this movie did nothing for me. I was checked out almost the entire time. Which is shocking to me, considering how brilliant Peckinpah usually is, and it features Steve McQueen...?! Some of the day-to-day interactions, like at the bar and whatnot were pretty interesting though.

not the most exciting film but a beautiful looking 70s picture

Sometimes it looks more like a documentary than a movie. Story seems really weak and a pretext to show this rodeo traditional world. Actors are great. So, that's a pleasant movie, but not what you could expect from Peckinpah.

Not a great film by any stretch of the imagination and only Peckinpah and McQueen make it worth sticking with.

Pekinpah film about an aging rodeo rider who finally returns home when the circuit hits his hometown. I never really got attached to any of the characters (even McQueen) the first go around but this is one which might need a second viewing. Still don't understand the appeal of rodeo.

would make a gr8 dble feature with Michum's "the Lusty Men" i'm just full of dble features today!

Aging rodeo star returns home to reconnect with his parents and conquer the bull that dropped him on tour. A bit of a departure for Peckinpah with a fine cast of stalwarts led by Steve McQueen plus a fetching Barbara Leigh. Prescott, Arizona setting, Rod Hart music adds to its authentic feel.

Serving as Sam Peckinpah's first exploration of the cowboy without gunfire and bloodshed, Junior Bonner sounded like a chance to see the gritty filmmaker in a gentle light. A lot of Sam Peckinpah's films tend to be slow as westerns, but as Junior Bonner lacks even the intense iconography of the genre, it is even slower than expected. The narrative in Junior Bonner is a very simple one where the relevance of the characters is significantly more key than the story itself, and as a result of that the narrative can prove quite dull at times. The thing about Juniour Bonner is that it maintains all of the subtle relationship themes from some of Sam Peckinpah's greatest films, but it lacks the spectacle this time with the most action coming from the slow motion scenes of the actors riding bulls at rodeos. This does have some appeal to it, but the fact remains that the character oriented nature of Junior Bonner ensures that it remains an exceedingly slow film. It doesn't run for too long at a mere 100 minutes, but even then it does feel like a lot of the film is a stretch simply because it does not feel iconic as a Sam Peckinpah film, neither in terms of narrative or technical qualities. I'll start with the technical side. Though many Sam Peckinpah films are charactersed by their creative use of cinematography, Junior Bonner is one of his most conventional works in that sense because most of the shots are simplistic close shots which rarely ever make use of a wide angle to capture the nature of the western landscape. This is sensible considering the small-scale character oriented nature of the film, but it still cannot help but feel a little too basic for a Sam Peckinpah film. The shots tend to stretch on for a while as well, so there is not really much creativity in that. The one sense of visual iconography that Junior Bonner maintains as a Sam Peckinpah film is the use of slow motion during the most high profile sequences, namely the rodeo sequences. But either way, the visual style feels dull. And even though the scenery itself is nice, the actual visual quality of the camera is already fairly rough and so there is little to illuminate it. The one major technical characteristic that stands out for me is the musical score of the film which is used during the rodeo sequences which has a really energetic spirit and western feeling which makes it an ideally mood-setting piece. The story itself is of mixed quality. Junior Bonner is a film with a familiar premise. In that regard, transcending it is key to ensuring entertainment value. Unfortunately, Junior Bonner is not that great at it. The meaning within the film is very subtextual as the film deals with common Sam Peckinpah themes such as a hero within a nihilistic world who must confront the changing times. The meaning of the film largely comes from the titular character and his relationship with his family and the world around him, but the technical characteristics of the film fail to illuminate this much. Sam Peckinpah attempts to let the drama of the film unfold without dramatization through clever cinematography techniques or the addition of an intense musical score. This could have helped the narrative, but the rather simplistic style of Junior Bonner really does not make it the most appealing film. The value of Junior Bonner comes from the fact that Sam Peckinpah really tries to be gentle with the film. It is far from his finest work and it does prove that he works better with gritty material, and to quote him "I made a film where nobody got shot and nobody went to see it", and I can agree with him on that. But at the same time, the way that the film took an alternative look at the west where the Cowboy iconography is changed to a modern day setting with the novelty concept of rodeo bull riding being the heart of his activities. Though perhaps there is not enough poured into characterising the titular Junior Bonner, he is an interesting and sympathetic character who audiences have a decent chance of being touched by. But this is predominantly because of the performance of Steve McQueen. What Steve McQueen brings to his role as the titular Junior "J.R." Bonner is much more than just a performance. As an actor who has taken on many larger than life roles in action films, it is really refreshing to see him slow himself down and go for something more character oriented in the same way that Sam Peckinpah does. This demands more of his subtle acting charms which remain character oriented without being dry and shallow, and yet at the same time he is able to capture the nihilistic melancholy of a cowboy in a world which no longer exercises a demand for him. The meaning behind the character does hide within, but Steve McQueen does what he can with the role and establishes a sense of damaged ambition and sympathy in the role. His performance is a restrained one and yet he carries the film very nicely with the limited charisma he lets off in the part. Steve McQueen's performance is a very simple and touching one which plays on his status as a cowboy or an action hero to bring a new perspective of depth into the mind of one of his characters which pays the dramatic talents of the man a lot of credibility. So Junior Bonner's absence of Sam Peckinpah's distinctive visual style or handling of gritty themes fails to put it on par with his better works in, Junior Bonner finds finds ways to compensate for its lack of spectacle and slow pace through its simplicity, the touching lead performance from Steve McQueen and the general fact that Sam Peckinpah goes for a more gentle angle on his film this time around.

Sincere, Sweet, Subtle, Junior Bonner is may not be Peckinpah's Best, but far from his worst. This movie is worth seeing if you never plan seeing a rodeo, because you see one rodeo you see them all.

A gentle Steve McQueen/Sam Peckinpah film that tackles the world of rodeo and family. Enjoyable.

Pretty boring but McQueen oozes cool

Incredible film. Part contemporary western, part sports redemption film. One where the athlete's eventual success does not lead to accolades or money or even a happy retirement but instead to a continued life of isolation and physical pain. McQueen is brilliant, his famously stoic coolness replaced by stoic suffering.

I liked the flashbacks and the way they looked. I wasn't huge on McQueen's performance. The story is really quite boring and uninteresting, as Ebert said, it's terribly thin. And the overdubbing sounds bad. Pretty weak film overall. Will appeal more to those who get a kick out of rodeo stuff, which is well filmed here.

One of Steve McQueen's best movies, and one of his last.

Peckinpah nous a habitue a mieux. Suivant!

A great movie. Sam Pickenpah departs from his usual violent vein to direct a quiet story of a man who is committed to his way of life and the family of which he is a part of. Steve McQueen is excellent in this role. He showed the quiet character of a few cowboys I knew.