The Last Rodeo Parent Guide

Retired from a perilous career as a rodeo bull rider, Joe Wainwright (Neal McDonough) is pursuing the marginally less precarious life of a rancher. The widower’s greatest joy comes from his grandson, Cody (Graham Harvey), who has inherited his skill and is already able to manage eight seconds on a steer. Joe’s daughter, Sally (Sarah Jones), objects to Cody’s pursuit of a sport that nearly killed her dad, but Cody’s determined to follow in Joe’s footsteps.

Then Cody is diagnosed with cancer.

The brain tumor can be surgically removed, but highly advanced medical care doesn’t come cheap. Sally’s insurance will only cover part of the cost, leaving Joe pledged to pay a bill that could easily top a hundred grand. Rather than sell the farm, Joe goes back to his first love and decides to compete in the upcoming Legends Event. Winning the bull riding competition could give Joe the cash to pay for Cody’s surgery; on the other hand, a bad fall could aggravate the injury that nearly killed him after his last rodeo, leaving him paralyzed or dead.

The Last Rodeo is billed as a sport drama, but to me it feels like a horror movie. Instead of the usual demonic monster or ax-wielding psychopath, this horror villain is an insurance company whose parsimonious bean-counting forces a family to choose between their child’s death, landless poverty, or the potential death of a grandfather. It’s a horrible dilemma and had me seething in silent rage throughout the film. (That’s just me: your mileage may differ.)

If you can get past the healthcare policy failures, The Last Rodeo is a pretty decent underdog sports film. Bull riding has been described as the longest eight seconds in sport and the movie deftly portrays the tension and agony of a ride. The script’s pacing is a bit erratic, though, and the middle act can feel a bit slow. Thankfully, most of the cast are capable, effectively selling the story. Neal McDonough, with his chiseled good looks and mega-watt smile, gives us a Joe who’s tough, committed, and completely devoted to his family. Sarah Jones is his prickly, self-sufficient daughter and Mykelti Williamson gives him a friend/coach in Charlie who offers more than sports advice and helps him lay to rest the ghosts of his past. The only real problem comes with the actors playing Joe’s competitors: they are all unconvincing and Daylon Swearingen, in particular, sounds like he’s just been given the lines and has no idea how to deliver them. Their performances are so bad I was starting to wonder how they managed to get mixed in with competent actors. Was the casting director off sick when they were chosen?

My quibbles aside, this movie is a love letter to cattle country – the vast spaces, big skies, and a way of life based on skill, grit, and self-reliance. I live in the heart of the prairies, and while I am too much of a city girl to enjoy rodeo (I feel sorry for the animals), I appreciate the skill shown by the cowboys – and am grateful to everyone who nurtures the land and provides the abundant food I’m able to buy.

As with all Angel Studios productions, The Last Rodeo is a family-friendly movie option. It’s not explicitly a Christian film (although Charlie’s faith comes up in conversation), but it is a tale which delivers strong messages about love, families, sacrifice, courage, resilience, compassion, grit, and faith. Negative content includes sport-related violence, a fistfight, and under a dozen profanities. The PG rating is fair and the film is suitable for tweens and teens, although it’s probably too intense for kids. It will definitely appeal to fans of sports movies, and for rodeo fans, this film will be a big “Yeehaw!”.