Concrete Cowboy

I liked it a lot and the cinematography was super well done. The only thing is that the ending could have been more sentimental by prolonging it. But I bet people would probably disagree with me on that. This is just my opinion.

Elba never disappoints of course. The pacing of the movie isn't the best but a very touching movie!

'Concrete Cowboy' dropped onto Netflix in 2020 and is actually a decent Netflix movie based around great character acting rather than fancy CGI. SYNOPSIS: 'Sent to live with his estranged father for the summer, a rebellious teen finds kinship in a tight-knit Philadelphia community of Black cowboys.' Although this film is predictable at times with it's storyline, it looks incredible with some amazing photography. Director, Ricky Straub (making his debut here) clearly has an expert eye in capturing some incredibly lit scenes. The film also features standout performances from Caleb McLaughlin, in a breakout performance, and Idris Elba who quietly does his thing becoming the back bone to the film. A gorgeous coming of age movie. 7/10

I really enjoyed it especially after learning that it centers on real life "concrete cowboys" Who are still currently riding in North Philly. Apparently there have been urban based male & female riders there for over a century. The interview at the end with some of the real life riders, that are also in the movie was an added bonus.

amazing scenes with artistic eye

That stable life. So this is about a teenager named Cole (Caleb McLaughlin). His mother in Detroit won't stand for him getting into trouble anymore, so she throws his clothes into some garbage bags and drives him to Philadelphia to live with his father (Idris Elba). He's a cowboy who lives in the city, so this is sure to be a drastic change for Cole. Now this one was on my radar, but it got pushed onto my backburner in a big way. While it looked intriguing, the fact of the matter is that nobody was talking about it, so it just sat on my watchlist. Now that I'm prepping for my 2021 wrap-up, I'm prioritizing catching up on films I missed, and Concrete Cowboy is pretty decent. Now going off the posters, you may be under the impression that this is Idris Elba's movie. While he gets to showcase his range once again, this isn't the case. It's much more Caleb McLaughlin's story. He's grown up considerably since Stranger Things, almost overnight, so much so that I don't know how they're going to make season 4 without making it take place in college. He turns in some quality work here. It's just such a bizarre situation to get thrown into the deep end, and he serves as the audience's avatar. I like the relationship he forms with the notorious horse that nobody can break, and I enjoyed watching him learn the ropes as the story advances. Expectedly, he is resistant at first, but he eventually comes around. That's the thing with this movie: it's formulaic and plays out almost exactly as you would imagine, but it's the variables that are mostly quality and elevate it. I use the modifier mostly because there is also an additional plot thread of Cole getting involved in very generic street crime. They don't even spell out what exactly is getting pushed, and it makes up such a large part of this story that I have to knock a few points off. Concrete Cowboy is a film that never rises above being satisfactory. I think it works from an educational standpoint more than anything. It may not directly be based on a true story, but there are people like this out there, and it lets you know how much whitewashing Hollywood did to the perception of cowboys. They use real, non-actor riders who do this on the daily, and that does give this story an authentic feel to it. It's not bad, so watch it at your own discretion if it sounds interesting.

Idris Elba is fantastic as always. The story touches upon some interesting thematic qualities. But it also lags towards the end.

Interesting. The story was a bit predictable. Reasonably well done. Idris Elba always does a good job.

It's strange to me there are not more people talking about this movie. It was so powerful. I had no idea what it was about and was surprised at how taken in I was right away. Wonderfully written and superb acting performances. I keep suggesting it to friends and no one seems to have heard of it that mention it to. Which is a shame because the history alone is worth learning.

I loved it. This touches base on the shattering realities of the street life versus the perception of it from a suburban life. A coming of age story that shows a boy get humbled