Broken Horses (2015) User Reviews

An average movie that fell short

[orebabito · 6/10 · 24 January 2016]

This is that kind of movie that maybe it wasn't for cinema. I mean, for a T.V. movie is OK; it has a story that tries to involve you in the "family values"'s sort of way, but it doesn't really grab your attention at its fullest.

The main problem is that the beginning has a poor rhythm, you don't quite connect with the characters nor the story and as it goes on doesn't change much... you are there waiting and waiting, and almost a half an hour later you start to pay attention to it, only to figure it out what it is gonna happen next, almost immediately. So it lacks of emotion and development, it has no complexity whatsoever and also the performances are "average", except for Marquette, maybe the striking point.

Also it has a nice cinematography and i quite like it the place where was filmed (if you're a fan of the landscapes); but that is all.

So, you CAN watch it, but don't expect much.

Indian Biryani Cooked in English Spices

[shafiquematin · 6/10 · 21 April 2015]

Broken Horses by Vidhu Vinod Chopra disappointed me in many ways. I was waiting for this from almost last 4 months and end up with dull face. This remake of Parinda is lacking in almost all the fields except cinematography. I understand its difficult to make a film for wide range of International audience, even for directors like VVC. This movie have given me a taste of Indian Biryani with English mas-ala. And hence not good for both. Better luck next Time Vidhu. ....and one more thing. Please don't ask James Cameron and other BIG names in Hollywood to say one liner for the movie before they also watch the movie. This may work in India not Internationally.

Bananas Brotherly Bond

[ferguson-6 · 5/10 · 9 April 2015]

Greetings again from the darkness. The old adage "blood is thicker than water" has always been fruitful movie fodder. Writer/director Vidhu Vinod Chopra takes the theme to a small, dusty town on the Mexico border. He introduces us to the sons of the local sheriff … Buddy is the slow-witted eldest and Jakey the bespectacled musical prodigy.

Buddy is flashing his dead-eye aim at the shooting range when his father (Thomas Jane) is murdered right in front of him. Local mobster Mr. Hench (Vincent D'Onofrio) seizes the opportunity to utilize young Buddy's need for revenge. Jump ahead 15 years, and Jakey (Anton Yelchen, Star Trek) is engaged to Vittoria (Maria Valverde) and living in New York City as a classical violinist. Things get interesting when Buddy (Chris Marquette) entices Jakey to come visit after being away for eight years.

Jake isn't in town very long before he fully understands that Hench has a grip on Buddy, who is now a full-fledged hit-man engulfed in the various border gang wars. Here is where the brotherly bond kicks in. Watching it play out against the manipulative power of Hench provides the meatiest conflict within the film. The brothers admit to living on "different planets", but it's clear that their traumatic childhood has connected them in a manner that time and distance can't break … even though one of them more readily identifies "bad men".

Sean Patrick Flanery (Boondock Saints) has an odd, but hyper-energetic small role, but most of the screen time is taken by D'Onofrio, Yelchin and Marquette. A better written role for Ms. Valverde would have been advantageous, but mostly this is a solid little crime drama with an emphasis on brotherly bond.

Meh

[maclock · 11 April 2015]

I expected more of this film. Performances offered by Vincent D'Onofrio normally impress me, but this movie is so overwhelmingly bleak, the story so implausible, and the characters -- Buddy, Jakey, and Vittoria aside -- so unlikeable, that even his performance could not save this underwhelming picture. I will say this: the cinematography was amazing. I had a real sense of place the whole time that I watched it in the cinema.

If you can suspend reality and accept the completely implausible premises set up by whoever wrote this mess of a movie, then you may well leave the theatre raving about what an excellent film it is. You may even mumble that the principals involved and the actors featured in it deserve consideration for various prizes. Not me, though. I can accept that it is alright, but I will not be singing its praises anytime soon. I would take a pass on Broken Horses if I were you.

Broken Adaptation

[DareDevilKid · 6/10 · 23 April 2015]

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK)

Rating: 2.8/5 stars

To the Hindi film audience in India, "Broken Horses" comes across as nothing more than a 2015 reworking of Vidhu Vinod Chopra's seminal 1989 crime saga, "Parinda". The similarities between the two films are so prevalent and irrefutable - motifs, characters, the plot, even scenes - that to a person who has watched "Parinda", "Broken Horses" feels like that film with a different cast, and therein lies the biggest glitch with the veteran filmmaker's Hollywood debut. Chopra's "Parinda" has basically returned 25 years later on-screen as Chopra's "Broken Horses", with Mexico's dust bowls replacing Mumbai's mean streets, a ranch on a lake replacing a crucial boat, two brothers joined by love and circumstances now also tied by a slight mental disability, and a lot less blood and a lot more conscious style. As for a person who hasn't watched "Parinda" - and most of Chopra's Hollywood audience would fall in that category - this film feels rocky, with certain parts of the story not quite adding up. What could have been acceptable in a 1989 Mumbai, is not quite so on the 2015 Mexico border.

So while Chopra's "Parinda" was a pathbreaker in 1989, giving the first gritty portrayal of the underworld in Bollywood, his first Hollywood venture won't make any waves on those well-trodden shores. Particularly as "Parinda" itself drew comparisons with a classic crime film that preceded it by three decades - Elia Kazan's Marlon Brando starrer, "On the Waterfront".

The ensemble cast does a commendable job, with D'Onofrio, Marquette, Yelchin, and Valverde all coming across as believable. Nana Patekar's pyrophobic Anna Seth of "Parinda" sees a parallel in D'Onofrio's Hench, who has an irrational nervous breakdown on seeing a burning candle in a church. Marquette is convincing in his role as Buddy, a man who is somewhat slow, but impeccable with the gun and his fists, and is easily brainwashed. Yelchin is passable as the violinist who needs to dirty his hands to save his brother. Valverde's Vittoria evokes copious pathos and admiration for the composure and resolve she displays under trying circumstances, regardless of the minimal screen time she gets.

On the technical front, Tom Stern's cinematography is par excellence, and is among the stronger points of the film - shots of the Mexican countryside are beautifully captured. A scene that particularly stands out is the one where the extraction of orange juice is interspersed with goons being killed. On the editing front it seems that Todd E. Miller's scissors were a bit too sharp and snappy, which could probably be the biggest reason that "Broken Horses" doesn't retain even a semblance of "Parinda's" excellence. The producers needed to understand or Chopra himself should have convinced the producers that a story of this magnitude needed the runtime of a Bollywood film, if it had any chance of creating an encore of the multi-layered depths and rich character arcs of its source material. The soundtrack does justice to the film, but doesn't stay with you once the curtains come down.

In all, "Broken Horses" is nothing but "Parinda" with western actors and without the same impact. While "Parinda" was a brilliant gangster movie and way ahead of its time, this one doesn't impress as much. That isn't saying "Broken Horses" is a bad film; it's more than a decent crime story, and can even be enjoyed to a moderate extent. But the fact that it's an adaptation of what could easily be considered among Indian cinema's 10 finest films ever, and the very same Director - an ace filmmaker no less - who helmed that film comes up short in this adaptation; stirs a level of infuriation and frustration within you, especially for those who loved "Parinda". Watch it if you're keen on seeing what the first Hollywood film written, directed, and produced by an Indian filmmaker is like. Else, just treat yourself by re- watching "Parinda" all over again.

Broken on so many levels

[scottshak_111 · 6/10 · 13 April 2015]

Broken Horses is broken on so many levels. To begin with, I will take the kid who can't act first. Whoever did the casting concentrated on his features alone, that and how much he would resemble Chris Marquette growing up. As the lame boy struggles with his lines without an expression on his face, Thomas Jane goes on to show his acting prowess by imparting brilliant gravity to his role.

We soon meet a guy called Hench played quite beautifully by Vincent D'Onofrio. Surprisingly his entrance and introduction to the tale gets smeared by poor direction. An unimportant dispensable element to the story was Ignacio played by Sean Patrick Flanery. He gets lost in a pointless plot. So does a horse that was merely kept to justify the movie moniker, and also to blast out five seconds after two bullets get fired.

Chris as Buddy seemed as if he was on the verge of having a nervous breakdown. The plot that surrounded Garza too was an exercise in futility.

Screenplay is really poor. The drama also doesn't stir you up. Actors seem to act on preordained tracks. The score is average albeit occasionally the violin would take things up for a while. The direction is quite mediocre and scrambles awkwardly with a predictable plot. It lingers along with the poor editing of the movie and goes on in a weird pace.

There is one scene wherein the camera captures Buddy in the background mourning as his brother beseeches Hench to let him help his brother out. I didn't comprehend why was there a need to take all three of them in a single shot? He looked more animated acting at a distance, unfocused, mourning, simply spoiling the gravity of the talk. Even little things in the movie are explained or told by actors taking audience for fools. For instance, as we see a grown up Buddy version he instantly tells his brother that he had a haircut. I mean, why do you even need to spell it out? We knew who he was! Du-uh!

The movie being a Vidhu Vinod Chopra flick, I went in with high expectations. That could have been the cause of my big disappointment. There was nothing thrilling. Just a bland tale projected with a bleak vibe.

Eventually, I would still call it an average flick uplifted only because of Vincent and Anton's performances. However, I would suggest you pass this one!

A shoddy mediocre remake of a classic Parinda... This wont make India proud VVC

[jmoneyjohal · 4/10 · 10 April 2015]

Twenty Five years later, Vidhu Vinod Chopras Parinda has returned as Vidhu Vinod Chopra's Broken Horses, with Mexico's dust bowls replacing Mumbai's mean streets, a ranch on a lake replacing a crucial boat, two brothers joined by love and circumstances now also tied by a slight mental disability, and a lot less blood and a lot more conscious style. So while Chopra's 'Parinda was a pathbreaker in 1989, giving the first gritty portrayal of the underworld in Bollywood, his first Hollywood venture won't make any waves on those well-trodden shores. Particularly as Parinda itself drew comparisons with a film that preceded it by three decades, On the Waterfront. Chopra keeps Broken Horses short and crisp at around 100 minutes, and its violence precise and clipped, a welcome break from similar films that thrive on their glorious celebration of blood. However, with a wisp of a backstory and an embarrassingly simple front one, its largely solid acting can only get it accolades it for its ambition. 'Somewhere near the Mexico border', a sheriff is killed while admiring how good a shot his elder son, Buddy â€" otherwise considered rather "slow" â€" is. The younger one, Jacky, is more inclined towards violin than guns, and is safely at school at the time. Soon after the funeral, Buddy is paid a visit at the diner where he works by Julius Hench (D'Onofrio), who tells him that "a bad man" killed his father and so he should take revenge. So while Jacky (now played by a hopelessly out-of-depth, and very hopefully curled-hair Yelchin) heads for New York and the Philharmonic Orchestra, Buddy grows up to be the henchman of Hench. Something keeps Jacky away from his hometown, and while you may think the reason is obvious, apparently the younger one has no clue what his elder brother, who can't keep no secrets, does. Jacky finds a girl, a pretty Italian no less, to marry, and Buddy calls him home to give him his wedding gift. Soon enough, for reasons that remain unconvincing, things unravel and complicate. D'Onofrio, modelled after Nana Patekar, is as ruthless and convinced of his own brand of justice, and as afraid of fire since shoving his wife and son into it. One of his "victims" though, a music teacher named Ignacio is so hilariously over the top that one can only be grateful he doesn't stick around to repeat the story about his missing legs. The best role is of Buddy, played admirably by Marquette. As the brother who has been shouldering the family manfully but is also acutely aware of his own shortcomings, he is nervous around the smarter Jacky, the powerful Hench, as well as the other smirking henchmen, and always very, very eager to please. It's a tough balancing act, to be both brave and weak. Shot by Clint Eastwood's favourite cameraperson, and with Goodfellas writer Nicholas Pileggi on board as consultant, Broken Horses also gets its settings right, from its dust-track roads and dust-lined vehicles to its one-horse towns. However, should you keep waiting for all of it to amount to something more, you would be disappointed. The moral of the story for Chopra: If you want to try something new, perhaps go for something new.

Felt that it could have been better, honestly.

[subxerogravity · 7/10 · 12 April 2015]

It feels like an attempt to create dramatic violence similar to Martin Scorsese but this plan goes south super fast.

The typical formula of two brothers whose father is killed before they are men. The oldest brother becomes a bad guy in order to take care of the younger brother assuring he becomes a good guy, And just when the good guy's life is about to turn great, he decides he needs to see his brother after years of silence to make life perfect,but of course things go bad when this happens.

The characters were not as stereotyped, as I make it. They had some death to it and it was well executed by the actors playing these characters.

The story was a good one as well.

But the filmmakers style needs work. I just saw that this movie was written directed and produced by an Indian filmmaker. It could have been culturally I did not find the dramatic pauses appealing, just overall melodramatic, but I'll give him points for not going all Bollywood on me and sliding in musical numbers that made no since( and I can see places in the movie were he could have done that)

Yeah, I found it more silly than anything so I won't recommend.

A film with good sponsors but I just don't get it...

[joebloggscity · 4/10 · 16 December 2015]

I don't get it. This movie has some high levels supporters (such as James Cameron) praising the movie, yet I can't see in any way how they are able to back it up. We have here a film centring round two brothers, who are caught in the middle of a corruption ring. One brother is slow witted and is being used whilst the other is trapped in his efforts to help his brother.

It's about brotherhood, loyalty, blood etc etc. The problem is that it just isn't gripping. The storyline is mostly poor and nothing complex, but the underlying themes need something challenging. It's absent here.

The main leads are fair enough and not big names, working hard with the material in front of them, but they can little save this.

The cinematography is beautiful and so is the natural scenery, but that's as good as it gets.

Not by any means the poorest film of late, but one that I can't seem to like. If it wasn't for the major sponsors of this film it likely would never have got any of the attention it ever did.

Watered down version of Parinda

[nadkarnisumeet · 6/10 · 11 April 2021]

Broken Horses review :

I was a school kid when 'Parinda' released. I vividly recollect sneaking in to the theatre with a friend to watch the 'A' rated film and getting blown away by its powerful narrative, solid performance from its cast especially Nana Patekar and then relatively unknown director Vidhu Vinod Chopra at his best. Today as I watched 'Broken Horses', which is Chopra's Hollywood adaptation of 'Parinda', with exactly 5 other people in a cineplex, I actually relived my childhood memories.

Broken Horses has practically the same plot albeit with a Mexican setting. So you have a ranch with a horse and an abandoned movie theatre as a backdrop for retelling the violent story of two brothers treading the wrong path in life and eventually paying the price for it. Chopra is an ace technician and the film has some excellent cinematography by Tom Stern. The landscape shots of the ranch and west side are marvellous.

The acting department ain't bad but doesn't come anywhere close to its Indian counterparts. Chris Marquette and Anton Yelchin are passable as the brothers at crossroads. Vincent D'onofrio as the antagonist isn't half as menacing as Nana Patekar in the hindi original. Maria Valvende gets just 3 scenes but leaves a mark due to her pretty face. Wouldn't even compare her to our Madhuri though! :)

I was also a tad disappointed with the reworked climax which drops the aesthetically shot love making scene and the immediate shocking blood bath the original film had. To compensate, the opening sequence and a conversation over dining table are engaging.

Overall, Broken Horses looks like a dumbed down diluted copy of the original Hindi classic. Wish Vidhu Vinod Chopra had chosen an original story for his Hollywood debut. He has made a fine start in Westland no doubt, but we know the guy is capable of much better!

Regards, Sumeet Nadkarni.

just a yarn

[papukamakshi · 4/10 · 14 April 2015]

As "Broken Horses" was drawing to a close, I formulated my review. I had just one sentence: "You could do worse than spend a totally free evening --when there's no cricket, even--watching this movie."

It is just a yarn, spun without imagination, and that yarn isn't substantial enough to be woven into a unique design.

There were a couple of twists and turns, some modicum of suspense, many efforts to get the tear ducts opening, but all through I kept thinking, "This is kind of embarrassing." If the movie theater had been full, I dare say there would have been guffaws at the flat story-telling and the clunky dialogs. That would have amused me.

With movies on familiar themes you want slick treatment, snappy dialog, and a sound-track that tells some of the story without the aid of words. And in this movie where music is a major theme, I really missed the magic an original score and sound-effects can play.

That's it. You aren't likely to go bananas about any aspect of this film, except may be the photography. Having seen this, I am not dying to see "Parinda" either.

Don't listen to the haters because it's a good movie

[deloudelouvain · 8/10 · 24 November 2015]

What actual makes me laugh when I read the reviews on IMDb is that most of the time movies with mediocre reviews are to me the best ones and movies with outstanding reviews I find them almost unwatchable. I don't know if it's me or if it is just the posh people that like movies from Lars Von Trier and David Lynch that review the most movies but I question myself if I have bad taste or what? I thought Broken Horses was a really good movie, with enough suspense to keep you interested during the whole movie. Unlike boring movies from Von Trier and Lynch where the story sucks big time and you kind of wish the movie ends as soon as possible. With this one I didn't get bored a second. Chris Marquette plays the mildly retarded brother brilliantly. I couldn't fail any of the actors actually. They were all good. The filming is also good and the story is also good. Everything about this movie is just good. Why it only gets such a low score on here is a mystery to me.

Story about the love between brothers

[martharwebster · 7/10 · 30 March 2021]

I'm not gonna lie, I thought this movie was gonna be low budgeted and stupid. Why did I watch it then? Well...I was going through an Anton Yelchin phase and frankly, I ran out of movies. But this movie blew me away. It was just amazing! The acting of both Anton and Chris was phenomenal! Just a good story! The only thing I didn't care for was the foul language and there was a good amount of violence too. I am a sucker for stories about brothers. I feel like there is no relationship like the one between brothers. This was an excellent story! And the music was good too! :) Two thumbs up!

After 25 years all VVC could think of was remaking PARINDA only while moving on to Hollywood.

[bobbysing · 4/10 · 1 August 2016]

The veteran producer-director Vidhu Vinod Chopra ventures into Hollywood and delivers a film that might not be able to impress the west as well as the east due to its overused, stale subject that cinema lovers have seen umpteen times all over the world in various films from the same genre.

No doubt VVC never made BROKEN HORSES for the Indian audience. But since he did release it in India, therefore reviewing it from an Indian perspective the film manages to impress just marginally due to its technical excellence alone, majorly because the viewers here have already seen everything presented in the film earlier in director's own PARINDA released in 1989. In fact it was quite surprising and weird to know that even after 25 years of successful film-making with innovative, creative minds such as Hirani, Aamir and more, VVC still could think of remaking PARINDA only while moving on to Hollywood.

For friends willing to know the details of similarities between PARINDA and BROKEN HORSES, here too we have childhood reference of two kids (Jackie & Anil), heartfelt love of elder brother who joins the crime world, a crazy gangster (Nana Patekar) having an obsession with fire whose family was burnt alive, the younger brother (Anil) returning after a long gap, his audition for entering the gang killing a helping friend (Sameer Kakkar), his revenge from the gangster, the gang rivalry with another mobster (Moosa – Tom Alter), the mobster helping the younger brother, the young one's love affair with a girl (Madhuri), their marriage and first night selected for their killing (where the yacht gets replaced by a ranch) and then the finale with (thankfully) a change where everyone doesn't die like in PARINDA. So the only single difference in the storyline is the missing character of Anupam Kher and a GODFATHER inspired sequence that goes missing in BROKEN HORSES playing it safe.

Looking at these exact similar sequences and the dead slow pace of the film, the film is bound to be rejected by the English film viewers here in India and the fact was pretty clear when I found myself all alone sitting in the theatre in its very first show which was also running after my repeated request made to the theatre manager.

Coming to the western audience, the subject is certainly not new for them too after watching several movies made on the plot of a mole seeking his revenge or related subjects based on gang wars beginning from the classic ON THE WATERFRONT released way back in 1954. Moreover the annoyingly slow place in the beginning and then few shallow sequences like 'the interview' doesn't let you form any great opinion about the film either quite frankly. However the emotional execution of VVC, along with some well directed violent scenes, impressive cinematography, a fine background score and noteworthy production values (all western technicians) are sure to get noticed in Hollywood, coming from an Indian film-maker representing an industry known to be obsessed with music, songs and dances.

In the performances, Christopher G. Marquette takes a big lead as Buddy and does manage to engage the viewer emotionally (he actually saves the movie) whereas Anton Yelchin presents a simple yet honest act as his younger brother becoming the rebel.D'Onofrio trying to be the cunningly ruthless gangster doesn't work really and the same can be said about Sean Patrick Flanery (the music teacher) and Maria Valverde too playing the lady love of Anton.

In short, it was quite hard to understand the reason why Vidhu Vinod Chopra couldn't think of any fresh innovative idea while venturing into Hollywood. Plus after watching the film, it makes you both laugh & wonder together that why he was denying the fact of BROKEN HORSES being an exact version of his PARINDA in all those interviews and press statements before its release? May be he did it on purpose to get a get good initial before the secret was out.

'Broken Horses' is a tale of two brothers ripped apart by circumstances and then brought together only to face an enemy that will stop at nothing to break their bond.

[shvmsharma · 5/10 · 12 April 2015]

So we have a true-blue Hollywood film directed by a true-blue Bollywood director, and barring a few like Shekhar Kapoor, this feat is as rare as it gets. Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Abhijat Joshi took the drafts of Parinda and ran them over the barren landscapes of crime- infested US-Mexico border and to be fair did not make a complete mess out of it. There are enough things to appreciate here. The performances are impressive and so is the cinematography. The movie does not fail due to the want of acting chops or production quality. What it lacks is plain, strong storytelling.

It had all the makings of a strong, moody tale with sparse characters and dusty landscapes of a Western. It could have even aimed somewhere between Unforgiven and A History Of Violence but unfortunately ended up way off-the-mark. The tension and mood that Chopra tries to build could have worked so well had it not been for the predictable turn of events and all too familiar tropes of brotherly sagas. Eventually, the plot just doesn't have enough conflicts and the story is much rather fit for a TV movie or a 40 minute episode rather than a 2 hour movie.

Consequently, the events seem stretched and apart from the intended ones, boredom is one of the major emotions you'll feel undergoing this ordeal. The melodrama doesn't help either. Marquette has the most to do and overplays the slow-brained older brother. Anton Yelchin is controlled but it's Vincent D'Onofrio as Julius Hench who makes the movie watchable with his menacing demeanor. His overbearing persona is pitch-perfect and his performance alone deserved a better movie.

It's not that Vidhu Vinod Chopra has done a bad job but he just hasn't done enough with the job at hand. What's there on the screen looks half-baked and incomplete and the movie lacks that punch and tension that you expect from a drama like this. The cinematography by the brilliant Tom Stern (long time Clint Eastwood collaborator) is the other aspect of the movie that lands it above the usual fare.

'Broken Horses' ends up as a job half done but not for the lack of resources at hand. I would still take heart from the fact that Bollywood meets Hollywood isn't the easiest of marriages and Chopra's attempt deserves attention, if only he can learn from it and deliver the next time.

(Upperstall.com)

Boring, Boring, Boring, Dark, Dark, Dark

[powerobject · 1/10 · 12 April 2015]

Stay away from this movie - it is slam dunk boring - from start to finish!! This is a joke out of "PARINDA" movie which was made in India over 25 years ago and obviously Vidoo Vinod Chopra has turned senile in those years that he cannot even think straight anymore.

OMG! Is that how a movie should start? ZZzzzz!!! They should watch "CHILDS PLAY" movie to learn how a movie should start!!

There are only about half a dozen men and a woman throughout this movie and the camera focuses mainly on 3 people.

The whole entire movie is DARK, DARK, BORING, BORING and in some shots you see NOTHING but just a completely DARK screen - all of the movie was shot in the evenings and nights for no reason and even when they show a couple of shots in broad day light for just a few seconds, there is NO light or Sun on actors faces!! Do they call this an art movie cinematography? Maybe the director turned sensitive to Sun light? This is so dumb and annoying. How about learning some techniques before making a movie? Watch Disney, Pixar movies or RANGO or HAPPY ENDING (Saif Ali Khan filmed in the USA with stunning cinematography) - they are all bright, bright.

The entire movie is shot in the MIDDLE OF NOWHERE in some unknown hills and mountains - no people, no nothing but just these 6 people who still wear suits, ties, boots, cow boy hats, guns, etc - they could even wander NAKED in those hills and NO one would notice them (LOL) - even Wyoming has more people than these locations.

They build a ranch with a white stallion horse in the middle of mountains and nowhere which is also shown only in the evenings and nights for no reason - no one wants to live there even if it is given for FREE!!

No offense intended but the 4 main characters in this movie are NO MATCH for Nana Patekar, Jackie Shroff, Anil Kapoor and Madhuri Dixit in the original PARINDA. These actors in Broken Horses are unknown faces and hence the movie seems like a very low budget one. This movie is not a fit even as a 30-minute TV clip. Even low budget TV serials such as Law and Order have more actors, locations, light and better picturization. Each and every scene in this movie is a joke out of PARINDA.

If there was a 0, I would give it 0 stars. If there was -10 stars, I would give it -10 stars. That says it all.

Jut save your money!

Loved it -- very well done

[ccfelder · 10/10 · 14 September 2016]

The acting was fabulous - very well done - well shot - we were surprised and impressed. The way the story was set up was shocking and yet made sense - mental deficiency is a cloudy and mysterious thing to observe in real life and very hard to act it was well - so Christopher Marquette did a great job - and evil men - as deeply evil as Vincent Donofrio's character was is also very hard to play - so the casting of those two roles as well as the brother, Jake and his fiancé was what held my interest - and I felt the cinematography was excellent. It is never clear whether it is the direction, acting or shooting that makes for a compelling story and usually it has to be all three - so, it got me. Having been in the business for many decades and knowing how hard all that is to get right, I was impressed. Hope they got their money back on it and have good memories...It was a very different journey for me as a viewer of many adventure and thriller films.

Brilliant touch of Bollywood to Hollywood!

[xtremruleslokesh · 8/10 · 10 April 2015]

I had always felt bad about not been able to see Munna Bhai M.B.B.S in theater at the time it came out because it was the movie I have loved forever. Well I never missed another Vidhu Vinod Chopra's movie. He is unbelievably talented in his own way of character driven films. He shows emotions in a way that has never been seen before but felt by everyone. May be that is the reason, his films are so good.

Honestly I was little worried about the fact that Indian Cinema has its own way and "Broken Horses" might not be able to get to the taste of international audience but boy I was wrong. Not only did he make a wonderful movie for all but he has been successful in bringing two different cultures closer.

Broken Horses is a story of two brother, living away from each other for long time. Its time for younger brother to get married but wait "Buddy" has a gift for him.

The writing is just brilliant. No loop-holes in the script. No dip in the screenplay. Characters are fully developed.Specially "Buddy". Chris Marquette is absolutely mesmerizing in this movie. He plays a character who is still like a child and needs to take care of but in the wrong hands, he has become killer.

Vincent D'Onofrio plays the manipulating villain that uses Buddy to do his dirty work.

Anton Yelchin has played character of younger brother of Buddy. He hasn't been around to take care of his brother which he promised to his dad.

Vidhu Vinod Chopra's movies do make you feel that untouched corner of your heart which you might have forgotten. This movie was successful in doing that once again. He owns this movie and I strongly recommend all to see this. I bet you will all go Banana, after watching this.

A rabbity revisit of Parinda

[Abhijangir31 · 10/10 · 11 April 2015]

Working with a general summation of art, no artist really revisits their creation. Yes they might hark back to a few individual themes, but no one really gets down to recreating a piece of art, as it was. Especially not when its a classic. Da Vinci never sat down to paint another Sistine Chapel. Rabindranath Tagore did not recompile the Gitanjali. Even the great Yash Chopra never really got down to refilming one of his classics. It boils down to impulse and lack of design playing an important serendipitous role in creating great art.

But when you do attempt to be over ambitious and recreate a Hindi film in Hollywood, chances are you'll end up with a novice creation. That's how you could describe the journey of Parinda to Broken Horses.   Lost in translation would be an understatement. The original story of Parinda, two brothers in the edgy midst of the underworld, trying to break free from a mercurial Mafia king pin, is intact in its Western retelling. Mumbai's underbelly has been replaced with the barren border terrain of the US-Mexico border. The characters are all white. The emotions are all scattered. The story is in shambles. Sixteen years ago, in a film industry obsessed with curry westerns and Oxford Street fashion, Parinda was a game changer. Broken Horses is just a shoddy revisit of that memorable film. Worst part is, it's left out all the good parts of the original.   The manic intensity of Nana Patekar's Anna is replaced by some textbook hamming by Vincent D'Onofrio. The sacrificing big brother character of Jackie Shroff is replaced by the theatrical and clichéd simple boy played by Chris Marquette. The ahead-of-its- time love making scene has been conspicuously left out.

The vengeful drama in the climax has been convoluted into an uninspired piece of writing. Even the supporting character of Iqbal, the younger brother's confidant is reduced to a razzie material stereotype. Something's amiss in Vidhu Vinod Chopra's execution. This is the same filmmaker who made Parinda and Khamoshi. Yet, his vision on Broken Horses exhibits an uncharacteristic novice nature.    Surprisingly the amateur efforts, aren't just limited to the story telling. Barring some excellent cinematography, the production as well as costume work is very lacklustre. The visuals look good, but everything else in the making of this motion picture doesn't seem to well thought out. The ranch, where all the drama unfolds looks like an amusement park for God's sake. The performances are all sub standard barring the efforts of Anton Yelchin. He lends some credibility to this movie.   Films are just another form of art. They benefit from the inspirations and enthusiasm of their creator. Like any other form of art, they can suffer if the vision is skewered or contrived. In his ambitious Hollywood foray, Vidhu Vinod Chopra wanted to prove that Indian filmmakers are better than just song and dance junkies. That we can match Hollywood's game in their playing field. And therein lies the biggest flaw. Imitation might be the sincerest form of flattery. But end of the day, flattery is also described as pleasing self- deception.

Good movie

[searchanddestroy-1 · 27 June 2023]

I did not see the original, made by the same director; as Michael Haneke did for FUNNY GAMES for instance, so I will not compare, but I think there are no major differences between two versions. This one is an American film, whilst the first one was from India, and a long time earlier. Vincent Donofrio literally steals the show for me, I will remind maybe not only him, but mainly him ; yes. This brothers story is poignant but not that new and the ending a bit predictable. I will never see it again but still was happy to see it anyway. Maybe, I repeat maybe, the original was less cheesy but am not sure.

This is the best brothers love story I seen -

[asilocreo · 10/10 · 1 May 2017]

I think this movie is great, it has been a long time since I have seen such beautiful brotherly love. I love their treatment to each other, even so at times I thought it was sad.

The landscape is breathtaking. I lived in cities all my life and never been inland but this scenery made me want to plan to road trip the country. I love cowboys movies and this one is a different kind of western with a development of characters and a story line that grabbed me from the first line and didn't let me go until the last. And the horse was so beautiful I wanted to hug and kiss too.

And so it is that I like this movie so much I am writing about it. And this is the first time I do so, not so much to recommend it but to process it for I wish there was a discussion going on to ask about the things I did not understand. Thanks.- Asilocreo

Excellent movie ...

[moviehawg59 · 9/10 · 11 January 2017]

*Some spoilers*

Why all the low ratings? Was I one of the very few who thought this movie great? To start off, I DID get hacked off when Thomas Jane died so quickly! But, it was the emphasis for the show. A really good movie about the bond between a semi- mentally-challenged older brother, and his normal, very gifted younger brother. I DID, also, think that, even tho the older brother (Marquette) was "slow", he jumped right into the work with D'Onofrio a little too easily ... especially with his dead dad having been a cop/sheriff. Meanwhile, Yelchin's character has focused solely on learning the violin, and the story really gets going when, after 8 years, Yelchin's "Jakey" comes back home for a visit and finds out that big bubba "Budds" has become a prolific hit-man for D'Onofrio's gang of n'er-do-wells. Jakey borrows Budds car to go see an old friend, and on the way back, D'Onofrio has put a hit on li'l Jakey (which fails), and so Jake decides to become part of the gang, to try and tear it down from the inside, and, also, save his big bubba. Needless to say, there are several twists and almost "gotcha's", before the ending, which, I thought, brought everything pretty much together for the right conclusion. Don't expect "blockbuster", just good, old-fashioned entertainment ... and you won't be disappointed!

A movie of lost era

[vellachsamie · 8/10 · 9 May 2016]

This is not your normal movie with 2 stories running parallel moving between them. This is not a movie with special effects. This is not even a gangster movie with lots of gunfight or blood and gore. This is a story about brothers. Brotherhood and commitment. This is a story about people with choices. This is about bravery.

This movie is also about how bad people actually do things. Bad people don't go around shooting others. Lest they go to the jail. Bad men make others kill each other. Survival in this world is to know what is right and wrong.

It has been a long time since I have seen a moving story such as this. The acting was above average by all actors. Even the girl who only appears a few times makes an impression.

This movie is not for action fans. Please stay away if you are. This movie is for sensitive people who like to think during a movie and talk about it after the movie.

An Insipiration for Indian Filmmakers and Audiences

[parthadhargupta · 9/10 · 11 September 2015]

After the first 15 mins of the Movie I was really glued to my seat. Though the story line is the 'Baap' of all Hindi Movie plots but the way the thing was shown on the Silver Screen really demands some kudos from the audience. Mr Vidhu Vinod Chopra has done a excellent work in presenting the old wine in a new bottle packed with superb flavors which has aged into perfection and is a feast for the eyes. Hats off to the Screenplay and Direction skills which has enriched the movie from all angles. Some may say that it was too melodramatic and I also agree to it at some point but at the same time my other half tells me that as this is a Commercial movie so some things need to change in order to get a good Box Office review. I would recommend this movie to all Indian Audiences in India and Abroad including our veteran Film Makers, Actors and Producers too, to take this as an Inspiration and conquer Hollywood. We shall never forget the fact that till now Bollywood is the Largest Film Industry in the Universe and we need to show the World that too through Hollywood. Lastly Hats off to Mr Chopra for giving us a masterpiece in the form of Broken Horses. Keep it Up Sir !!!

Worth a watch in any case

[adelinieewa · 10/10 · 4 July 2023]

I have never seen the real Parinda bollywood movie but I enjoyed watching this one. I'm not really sure what is wrong with these bad ratings because the acting is great, places too, storyline? It was interesting and pretty gripping for me, sometimes unexpected. In my view movie is ment to be something you can only imagine and wouldn't nessesarily happen the same in real life even tho I'm not sure why could this movie be that unrealistic? Overall, it's not some kind of super special masterpies but as for what it's made it fulfills it's potencial and has a heart-touching message too! Definitely worth a watch 🤷‍♀️