Richard Singer

As a NY Jew who married a girl from the Texas Panhandle (Dumas) this movie was relatable to me on a few levels, for sure (the non-violent ones, lol). My socio-political orientation is vastly different from my in-laws, and yet--and this is something I think most of us forget--on a personal level, people can get along just fine in spite of this. They do have a completely different frame of reference from me, and yet I realized they are actually a lot more generous and kind-hearted than I will likely ever be. The "fish out of water" backdrop to this story therefore rings mostly true (except for the rodeo idiocy). The movie is characterized by powerful, charismatic performances with some real provocative ideas about where we are and who we are as a nation in this dysfunctionally overloaded social media age.