review for Colorado Cowboy: The Bruce Ford Story on AllMovie

Arthur Elgort's Colorado Cowboy: The Bruce Ford Story isn't likely to win many converts to the sport of rodeo bronco riding, but it should thrill those with an interest in this kind of Americana, and it's been made with enough style and grace to satisfy other documentary fans as well. Ford uses few words to explain his outlook on what he does, and how he reached his iconic status. Cinematographer Morten Sandtroen's grainy sepia-toned black-and-white images have a dusty, leathery quality that perfectly suits Ford's weathered face, and the intensely physical way he earns his dollar. Ford basically works for eight seconds at a time riding bucking horses, and through the film's lovely slow-motion rendering of these events, the audience can see how every one of those seconds is a test of strength and endurance. Ford describes it simply -- "a 150-pound person controlling a 1,200 pound animal" -- and that battle for control is captured by Elgort's exemplary footage of Ford at work. Sandtroen also captures the harsh beauty of the Southwestern terrain Ford travels as he works the rodeo circuit. Colorado Cowboy earned Best Cinematography honors at the 1994 Sundance Film Festival. The film doesn't have much narrative drive. It's not clear from event to event how close Ford is getting to the world title he craves. For the most part, it's the strong visuals of the film that hold the viewer's interest. Dramatically, the most interesting events occur late in the film, when Royce Ford, Bruce's young son, is seen competing at an event, and battles with his own emotions deciding whether or not he's actually going to climb onto the bull he's supposed to ride. Despite its lack of narrative focus, Colorado Cowboy is a well-made documentary with a sweetly elegiac tone.