01
Junior Bonner
Why this pick
Like The Electric Horseman, it finds bruised dignity in an aging rodeo star confronting family, commerce and a changing West, with an unusually warm, unhurried emotional texture.
A FILM WORTH A CLOSER LOOKTHE FEATURE PRESENTATION
MOVIE1979 2h 2m USA
IF THIS ONE STAYED WITH YOU
Movies like
The Electric Horseman
DramaComedyWestern
CINEHUNCH / THE NEXT FRAME
Keep the feeling.
SIMILAR PICKS / A PERSONAL CONNECTION
If you loved The Electric Horseman, try these.
01
02
Comes a Horseman
Why this pick
This modern Western pairs magnificent ranch-country imagery with a principled fight against ruthless corporate pressure, echoing Sonny Steele’s resistance to being turned into a commercial product.
03
The Mustang
Why this pick
Its restrained story of an incarcerated man forming a bond with a wild horse carries the same redemptive animal-human connection and earned, unsentimental hope.
04
The Straight Story
Why this pick
For the gentle road-movie spirit beneath Pollack’s satire: an older man’s plainspoken journey across wide American landscapes, paced with warmth, melancholy and faith in human decency.
05
The Milagro Beanfield War
Why this pick
Robert Redford again plays a stubborn idealist pushing back against development interests; its Southwestern community, comic edge and sincere belief in resistance make it a fitting companion.
Finding the atmosphere, tension and little details that made this one stay with you.
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01 / THE STORY
A little about the film.
Norman "Sonny" Steele is a former championship rodeo rider who has sold out to a business conglomerate and is now reduced to making public appearances to sell a brand of breakfast cereal. Prior to making a Las Vegas Valley promotional appearance to ride the $12 million champion thoroughbred race horse who responds to the name of Rising Star, Sonny discovers to his horror that the horse has been drugged and is injured.
02 / FACES IN THE FRAME
The people who bring it to life.
Robert Redford
Norman 'Sonny' Steele
Jane Fonda
Alice 'Hallie' Martin
Willie Nelson
Wendell Hickson
Allan Arbus
Danny
Brendan Kelly
Grocer
Basil Hoffman
Toland
Tasha Zemrus
Louise
Lois Hamilton
Joanna Camden