The Rider (2017)
It’s hard getting back up for this one.
Presentation:
If you liked Nomadland, the same director gives us a visually and tonally similar film with more story this time around. Chloe Zhao uses similarly minimalistic presentation with sparse music and artificial light relying on natural blue hour to convey a lonely and sentimental mood. It’s quite the powerful story when you think about it, a man dealing with a crushed dream and forgotten glory for a normal life of health, but it's presented in a very boring way that leaves a lot to be desired. At least with films like The Wrestler there is a climax, but in this film the finale likely won’t hit.
Conclusion:
A very realistic portrayal of life, it might not be interesting enough for you to enjoy the experience even if it is a very tragic and poignant story of what really happens in life. It’s objectively a great story but its presentation might be too boring for most people to appreciate. I personally found it very difficult to saddle up for this one but others should. Very minimalistic art film student in execution.
Recommendations
Thematic literature enters the ring.