The Last Rodeo

Rated PG • Theaters

Once upon a time, little boys would plunk down two bits at the ticket window on a Saturday afternoon to watch brave buckaroos fix their white hats atop their heads before galloping off to right wrongs in the Old West. But most recent Western movies and TV don’t feature a gunslinging range rider worth admiring.

If the disappearance of the prairie paladin from the silver screen has got you bellyachin’ (of course, you wouldn’t let anyone see you cry about it), The Last Rodeo might be right up your tornado alley. The new Angel Studios release stars Neal McDonough (Homestead, The Shift) as ex–bull riding champ Joe Wainwright. (McDonough also serves as one of the film’s writers and producers.) In a modern twist, Joe’s adversary isn’t a gang of bandits but his grandson’s brain tumor. When Joe learns insurance won’t cover the cost of a potentially lifesaving surgery, he comes out of retirement to compete in a tournament offering a million-dollar purse.

Everything about Joe Wainwright spells tough guy. Even his name tips the hat to John Wayne and Bonanza character Little Joe Cartwright. He’s a three-time former Professional Bull Riders world champion who left the sport after a drunken ride led to a broken back. With a steel rod fused to his spine, Joe giddy-ups around his Dallas-area farm, never removing his cowboy hat except to put on a more weather-beaten one. He visits his daughter Sally (Sarah Jones) and her 10-year-old son Cody. The only things that can ease Joe Wainwright’s clenched jaw are pictures of his deceased wife Rose (played by McDonough’s real wife, Ruvé McDonough) and watching Cody swing a bat.

At a baseball game, a pitch hits Cody in the head. A scan at the emergency room delivers unexpected news—a tumor deep inside his brain. Insufficient insurance leaves the Wainwrights facing medical bills in the six figures. Joe decides to register for a PBR Legends Tournament that will bring together past and current stars to vie for big-time prize money. Joe’s stiffest competition looks to be, besides his own injury-­racked frame, reigning champion Billy Hamilton (Daylon Swearingen, the real-life 2022 PBR world champion). Joe must also talk his onetime best friend and rodeo partner Charlie Williams (Mykelti Williamson) into helping him prepare—a tough row to hoe, as he cut off communication with Charlie in his depression after Rose died. The film keeps religious expressions lite: Charlie testifies he “wouldn’t have made it” without his faith, and Joe kisses a crucifix before a bull ride.

The Last Rodeo is well acted (except for Swearingen, in his first role not playing himself) with much of the film consisting of dialogue. Sally continually berates her father for returning to the bullring, and Joe and Charlie ceaselessly chat about past tragedies and glories over diner specials. But we also get predictable Western tropes.

Cowboys brawl over a disputed barroom seat. Young riders bust old Joe’s chops (and chaps?), so Joe goes shirtless to reveal his beefy physique. The drama gets thicker than Texas toast: Getting to the tournament proves to have its own challenges, and once he’s there he takes some knocks that almost knock him out. Everything leads up to his third and final 8-second round (which takes 32 seconds of film time).

But if you can hang on through a dozen mild expletives, The Last Rodeo is mostly good, clean, dirt-spraying fun.