Ep. 78 - On Swift Horses - mini pod — Classic American Movies

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Stanford teacher Shannon Pufhal’s debut novel about 1950’s America and the restraints on being gay was raved in the LA Times as being “a remarkable spell. [She] embraces noir’s mood while weaving in a love story,” by Mark Athitakis. Other reviewers found the novel so boring and bland they had to read the bulk of it in one sitting because they couldn't fathom picking it up again.
The movie version lies somewhere in the middle. I felt the characters had no arcs, motivations were out the window and when things go bad, the response is “What can I do? Amiright?” However, the costumes were amazing and it had decent acting, given the dialogue was all over the place.
“Horses” is a film that wants to explore the restrictions of being gay in a straight, conservative world, but feels more like a hangout flick where the characters rarely come in conflict. They never come to a conclusion, or if they do, it doesn’t make sense.
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