A clunky English-language short film by Pedro Almodóvar that suggests it is best if he sticks to crafting films in his home country.
Despite having the talents of Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal both of their performances are one-note and overly melodramatic. And not in a way that has worked so well in his previous films.
Expositional dialogue is rushed through in the first half setting up the past relationship between the two cowboys all of which was translated through a simple look by the two men when they first lay eyes on each other.
In his presentation, Almodóvar critiqued other modern westerns such as The Power of the Dog and their representation of homosexual relationships and how they are done on a subtler manner and yet he proceeds to do the same thing.
The story is cut short with an underdeveloped crime storyline involving Pedro Pascal’s son who possibly committed murder and Ethan Hawke who searches for him looking for answers. The payoff to this storyline is effective but would have been more so if the story was told at a feature length.
Another inclusion is a flashback to their younger days as lovers which plays into the stereotypes of telenovelas and is humorous but again would have been more effective with time to expand on.
Almodóvar’s work in digital does disappoint visually with the depth of field coming across as extremely flat, but his brilliant use of colour and composition of actors which has been prevalent in all of his work since the 80s is ever present.
Despite having the talents of Ethan Hawke and Pedro Pascal both of their performances are one-note and overly melodramatic. And not in a way that has worked so well in his previous films.
Expositional dialogue is rushed through in the first half setting up the past relationship between the two cowboys all of which was translated through a simple look by the two men when they first lay eyes on each other.
In his presentation, Almodóvar critiqued other modern westerns such as The Power of the Dog and their representation of homosexual relationships and how they are done on a subtler manner and yet he proceeds to do the same thing.
The story is cut short with an underdeveloped crime storyline involving Pedro Pascal’s son who possibly committed murder and Ethan Hawke who searches for him looking for answers. The payoff to this storyline is effective but would have been more so if the story was told at a feature length.
Another inclusion is a flashback to their younger days as lovers which plays into the stereotypes of telenovelas and is humorous but again would have been more effective with time to expand on.
Almodóvar’s work in digital does disappoint visually with the depth of field coming across as extremely flat, but his brilliant use of colour and composition of actors which has been prevalent in all of his work since the 80s is ever present.
