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The Jack Bull

The Jack Bull

Western · TV Movie · 1999

When the law fails to punish a fellow rancher that has abused his horses, a Wyoming horse trader sacrifices it all in a quest for justice.

Movie details

The Jack Bull

“All men want justice. Few are willing to pay the price.”

1999 Western · TV Movie 1h 56m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

When the law fails to punish a fellow rancher that has abused his horses, a Wyoming horse trader sacrifices it all in a quest for justice.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Jack Bull?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

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Drama · 1955

Will Lockhart arrives in Coronado, an isolated town in New Mexico, in search of someone who sells rifles to the Apache tribe, finding himself unwillingly drawn into the convoluted life of a local ranching family whose members seem to have a lot to hide.

Hud

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Hud Bannon is a ruthless young man who tarnishes everything and everyone he touches. Hud represents the perfect embodiment of alienated youth, out for kicks with no regard for the consequences. There is bitter conflict between the callous Hud and his stern and highly principled father, Homer. Hud's nephew Lon admires Hud's cheating ways, though he soon becomes too aware of Hud's reckless amorality to bear him anymore. In the world of the takers and the taken, Hud is a winner. He's a cheat, but, he explains, "I always say the law was meant to be interpreted in a lenient manner."

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The Electric Horseman

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Where it lives

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Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

John Badham

Written by

Dick Cusack

John Cusack

John Cusack

Myrl Redding

John Goodman

John Goodman

Judge Tolliver

L.Q. Jones

L.Q. Jones

Henry Ballard

Miranda Otto

Miranda Otto

Cora Redding

John Savage

John Savage

Slater

Rex Linn

Rex Linn

Shelby Dykes

John C. McGinley

John C. McGinley

Woody

Court is in session

Put The Jack Bull on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Auteur Devotee

“Patience is part of the point.”

Duration becomes texture. The film asks you to inhabit its world instead of merely processing its plot.

The prosecution The Adrenaline Seeker

“A test of endurance, your honour.”

Stillness keeps submitting itself as meaning. At some point, contemplation needs something worth contemplating.