Meet the Real Horse Whisperer

Forget Robert Redford, Buck Brannaman is the true-to-life cowboy in a new documentary

by: Meg Grant
AARP The Magazine
June 16, 2011


Directed by Cindy Meehl
Rated PG,  Runtime: 88 mins.
Stars: Buck Brannaman

On the surface, Buck is a study of horses, but it’s also a portrait of Buck Brannaman, a man who possesses a deep reserve of empathy that allows him to connect with four-legged creatures as well as the two-legged ones that ride them.  Read complete article

React to Film

June 14, 2011

Most documentary films bring to light environmental and political issues, but there is a slightly different theme to the film Buck, where even the most die-hard city dweller can appreciate a gentle cowboy and his land.

With a message of hope (as emphasized by director Cindy Meehl in a Q&A with REACT to FILM), Buck can inspire everyone to take several types of action. Besides helping everyone realize that we are all indeed humans, regardless of our background, it also relays the important healing power animals can have in our lives. You may just be inspired to learn to ride a horse.

At RtF’s screening on June 6, Buck and Buck Brannaman were there. I am not sure which was more thrilling to see, but both were powerful. If you saw the film then, or if you plan to see the film when it comes to theaters in NYC and LA (June 17 y’all!), let’s make sure everyone understands what you can do to REACT to the film.

You can get other people to see the film!

We want to increase the exposure of Buck and engage people in the conversation about this award-winning film. Support organizations that support what cowboys like Brannaman are doing!

Emelia Paul started an organization in honor of her father, “James D Paul II Foundation” that helps children, without the economic ability, to attend therapy workshops with horses in the dealing of the loss of a family member. After the death of her father, Emelia was able to cope with her grief through this experience.

Brannaman himself is working with Homeboy Industries, a Los Angeles organization that helps former gang members transform their futures and move on from their past. He will be holding one of his sessions with a group of young men soon.

Most importantly, let’s be annoying. Email, Facebook, or tweet to let people know that you can see Buck in theaters on June 17 and across the country soon.

Visit Reacttofilm.com

Seeing things the horse’s way

By Kenneth Turan,
Los Angeles Times Film Critic

The calm, centered Buck Brannaman works wonders with troubled horses. Now, the cowboy who inspired ‘The Horse Whisperer’ is the focus of his own film, ‘Buck.

More >

Dark Horse: Interview with Cindy Meehl and Buck Brannaman

Filmthreat.com
KJ Doughton – interview

There’s absolutely no way on God’s green-pastured, stallion-roaming earth you could POSSIBLY convince me that “Buck” would bring me to tears. I can’t stand horses. The thought of enduring 88 minutes with a boot ‘n bolo-wearing cowboy seemed like one big cinematic saddle sore. Before entering the theater, I was already smelling cow-pies and swatting flies.

More >

Buck Brannaman: A Cowboy Called “The Horse Whisperer

SADDLEANDBRIDLE.COM
June Issue
by Jane E. B. Simmons –article

“A lot of my work is not helping people with their horse problems but helping horses with their people problems,” Buck Brannaman says of his life’s work. Called a horse whisperer by others, the Montana native calls himself a cowboy.

Read more >

A Talk With Buck Brannaman

Cowboys & Indians, The Premier Magazine of the West

by ELLISE PIERCE
WEB EXCLUSIVE

I

f you saw the Robert Redford movie The Horse Whisperer, then you already know Buck Brannaman, the real-life Wyoming horseman who the movie and the book by Nicholas Evans were based on. But that’s just part of the Brannaman story. Buck, a visually striking documentary on Brannaman, premiered last winter at Redford’s 2011 Sundance Film Festival, winning the Audience Award for best documentary, and has received rave reviews from esteemed film critics. He contributed to On Horses’ Wings, the fundraising music CD for the Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center. And he wrote Ranch Roping: The Complete Guide to a Classic Cowboy Skill (2009). Through it all, he’s been plying his trainer trade spreading the gospel of natural horsemanship.

Read more >

You Can Also Lead a Horse to Nirvana

By DAVID CARR
New York Times

Published: June 8, 2011

LAST Sunday evening Buck Brannaman strolled the High Line, two stories above the streets of Manhattan and hundreds of miles from his native habitat, the ranch country where he runs clinics in enlightened horsemanship. The documentary “Buck,” which won a Sundance audience award this year and will open on Friday in New York and Los Angeles, details his shamanlike skills around horses and the people who ride them.

Read complete article >

Inside Buck’s Story

SheKnows Entertainment / Joel D. Amos

For anyone who has adored horses, even from afar, Buck has landed to enlighten your summer. Buck is a real-life horse whisperer and his magic with the gentle giants is only matched by the majesty of his story as captured in the film Buck and we have an exclusive clip!

Read complete article and view clip

‘Buck’ Film Clip: Buck Brannaman, Horse Whisperer

In 1998, Robert Redford directed and starred in “The Horse Whisperer,” a film, based on a 1995 novel of the same name, about a group of men who could communicate with horses and help solve their owners’ issues, both equine and personal. Read more  & view film clip >

Buck Review on CBS Sunday Morning News May 15, 2011

Buck the film reviewed on CBS Morning News. With the help of Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, Bill Whitaker looks at what’s in store.