Gentlemen Broncos Premiere!!!

Enter the world of the Yeast Lords, where deer fly and have missles. Oh, and there's Sam Rockwell, too.

Gentlemen Broncos

starring Michael Angarano, Jemaine Clement, Jennifer Coolidge, Haley Feiffer, Hector Jimenez, Sam Rockwell, Mike White

directed by Jared Hess

I had the awesome opportunity to see the premiere of Jared Hess’s Gentlemen Broncos over a month before its official release date! It was the opening film at this year’s Fantastic Fest  at the Paramount Theater here in Austin, TX. We’re talking full on premiere with red carpet, papparazzi, and stars; Jared and Jerusha Hess, Mike White, Mike Angarano, Jemaine Clement, and Sam Rockwell were all present. And then if that wasn’t cool enough, all of the cast hung around for a quick Q&A afterward. It was a fantastic night, and will be something I’ll remember for a long time coming. But, I have to give you something to go see this movie a month from now, right? So here we go.

Benjamin (Angarano) lives with his mom Judith (Coolidge) in a small town. Ben likes to write science fiction stories and keeps them all in three ring binders that he personally does the art for. He get the opportunity to go to Cletus writer’s convention where he meets his hero, Dr. Ronald Chevalier (Clement), where among other things, the doc teaches a class on main character name suffixes. Apparently adding -anous or -onious makes names ‘more believable.’ There is a contest at this convention; whomever writes the best sci fi story will it get published. So, Ben turns in his favorite manuscript: The Yeast Lords, the Bronco Years. It follows the last of the Yeast Lords (Rockwell) against an evil plan to steal on of his gonads. As it turns out, Chevalier has run into problems with his publisher. If he can’t come up with something good, they’re letting him go. In desperation, he finds Benjy’s manuscript, changes a few names, and turns it in. It is an instant success, and Ben finds out about it too late.

Jared Hess, among his directing peers, has one of the most unique points of view out there. Each of his films has a distinct love for eighties tech and culture, and they also hold a strong love for the loser. In Napoleon Dynamite, Nacho Libre, and now Broncos, Jared gives us simple yet amazing stories about making the loser a hero for a day. His usual sense of humor is strong in Broncos as well, but I will venture to say that Jared and his wife Jerusha have become better writers over the last few years. Though the odd and quirky sensibilities are still present, the flow of the story is smoother and the one liners have more zing. Hess is a master of his style and craft, and he’s done nothing but hone those skills in this film.

All actors did beautifully, but the stand outs are Clement and Rockwell. Clement fully dove into the role of the pompous and desperate Dr. Chevalier. Most of the one liners are single handly carried by Chevalier himself. Even down to the little details, such as his dorky salutation in the form of some alien species he created. He’s totally wrapped up in his own little fictional word and it has warped him. (On a side note, Hess had a contest for sci fi hiakus. The top three were read before the screening here in Austin by none other than Jemaine Clement as the Dr. Chevalier. Hilarious and Brilliant.)

Then, there is the genius that is Sam Rockwell. He is Bronco, the hero of all the narration scenes when the book is being read. The world of Bronco is a typical, low budget, sci fi cult film. When being read in Ben’s original Yeast Lords, Rockwell plays Bronco as a hick in space, running around kicking ass and yelling in a southern back woods accent. When being read as Chevalier’s plagarized Brutus and Balzaak, Rockwell plays the transvestite Brutus, who is very feminine and much more stylish. Very few people could have pulled off something this strange, and Rockwell does so with flying colors.

I cannot express this to you enough: Gentlemen Broncos is a must see this fall. Forget what you know about Napoleon Dynamite, and forget what might have thrown you off about Nacho Libre; Jared Hess has refined the genre he created and Broncos will make you fall in love with him all over again. I will be purchasing it on Blu Ray, and I dare I say I might see it again when it officially hits theaters.

And, just for kicks, here are a few crappy pictures from my iPhone that I managed to take at the premeire.

The marquee on the front of the Paramount Theater in downtown Austin, TX.

Sam Rockwell on the Red Carpet.

The cast, with Clement on the far right reading as Dr. Ronald Chevalier.