if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

A great movie, one of the best of this year. There was a bit of confusion at one point in the plot, but nothing serious.

Good Western with satisfying and impressive directorial by John Badham and produced by the prestigious HBO . The Jack Bull narrates the tale of Myrl Redding (John Cusack , also producer) married to Cora (Miranda Otto) and with a son (Drake Bell) , he is a Wyoming horse trader who clashes with Henry Ballard, a baron land . Jack along with fellow Woody (John G. McGinley, also producer) transport a herd of horses across the country but Ballard abuses two of Myrl's horses and their Crow Indian caretaker , Billy (Rodney A Gant) . After being wrongfully denied justice, a horse trader seeks his own justice on the treacherous rancher ( L.Q. Jones) and his hoodlums (John Savage and Nick Gillie) . When Judge Wilkins (Ken Pogue) throws out Myrl's complaint , the war he wages to obligate Ballard to nurse the emaciated horses back to health but it leads into killings , a vigilante manhunt , and the possible defeat of Wyoming's bid for statehood carried out by the governor (Scott Wilson) and the General prosecutor (Jay O Sanders) .This stirring and melancholic picture is acclaimed like one of the best Western TV of the last years with some prizes and nominations . It's an excellent Western with interesting issues , noisy action , shootouts, breathtaking scenarios ; but also melancholy , interracial friendship between Jack and the Indian Billy , unlovable camaraderie and emotionalism . Sensitive and moving Western where a cowboy must say goodbye to the life he knows and undergoes an extraordinary and dangerous travel , seeking justice and vengeance . Based on a novel by Heinrich von Kleist , whose title is "Michael Kohlhass", being well adapted by Dick Cusack, John Cusack's father . In fact , ¨Jack Bull¨ is a familiar film , starred by John Cusack , written by his father Dick Cusack and play roles sons's Dick as John , Bill Cusack and the same Dick as a Jury foreman . Great acting for all casting with magnificent main roles by John Cusack , L.Q. Jones and John G McGinley . Secondary cast is frankly excellent as Kurt Fuller , Rex Linn , Duncan Frazer , Jay O Sanders, Scott Wilson and many others . Gorgeous landscapes, reflecting wonderfully the wide open spaces , are splendidly photographed by Gale Tattersall , filmed on location in Calgary , Alberta , Canada . Emotive and sensible musical score by Lennie Niehaus , Clint Eastwood's usual . The movie follows the wake the last Television Western starred by Sam Elliot , Tom Selleck, or Robert Duvall such as ¨Monte Walsh¨, ¨Crossfire trail¨ and ¨Broken trail¨. The motion picture was professionally directed by John Badham . He's a nice director who achieved his greatest successes in the 80s . He directed several hits such as ¨Saturday night fever¨ , ¨Short circuit¨ , ¨Blue thunder¨ , ¨Drop zone¨ , ¨War games¨ ,¨ Skateout¨, though today making TV movies such as ¨Obsessed¨ , ¨Floating away¨ and of course ¨Jack Bull¨ at his best ; furthermore , he realized television episodes as ¨ Crossing Jordan¨ ,¨ Psych¨, ¨ Las Vegas¨ , ¨The event¨, ¨ Standoff¨ , ¨ Heroes¨ . Rating : Better than average for the proficient film-making . It's a magnificent movie , and an unforgettable , unchallenged classic TV western .

Many modern Westerns take a whack at demythologizing the frontier, but I don't know of any other film that does it as powerfully and thoroughly as The Jack Bull. All the old, familiar themes are here, stripped of their pretense and given new and exciting life in a challenging tale that becomes more morally and ethically complex as it goes along.In the waning days of the Wyoming Territory, a horse trader named Myrl Redding (John Cusack) gets into a dispute with a land baron named Henry Ballard (L. Q. Jones) over two stallions. Myrl left them with Ballard as collateral for a toll to pass through Ballard's land on way to a horse auction. When Myrl returns for them, he finds his man left to mind the horses beaten and run off and the animals whipped, mistreated and worked near to death. Myrl demands the stallions be restored to the previous condition by Ballard's own hand, something the rich man sneeringly refuses.Myrl takes his case to the local judge (Ken Pogue), only to find him in Ballard's pocket. He tries to petition the territorial Attorney General, only to have that request end in tragedy. Unwilling to let the wrong done him go unanswered, Myrl gathers together a gang of men and rides up to Ballard's spread to get justice for himself. Ballard escapes, however, leaving Myrl to lead his men across the countryside, threatening to burn out anyone who gives aid or shelter to Ballard. This little insurrection eventually brings the conflict between Myrl and Ballard to the attention of the territorial governor (Scott Wilson), but not until people are killed and someone has to be help accountable for those deaths.Myrl Redding deserves to stand alongside Tom Doniphon and Liberty Valance in the pantheon of Wild West cinema. All three symbolize how the sort of men who made the frontier the glorious place it was, were also the sort of men who would have no place as the frontier gave way to civilization. Make no mistake, Henry Ballard is the bad guy in this story and Redding is the good guy. But most of Ballard's actions are legal and only slightly unethical. The crimes he does commit are of a petty nature. The awful events of The Jack Bull flow not from the greed or arrogance of Henry Ballard, but from the uncompromising pride and independence of Myrl Redding. Ballard makes only a little spark. It is Myrl who pours gasoline on that spark until it becomes a deadly fire.Taking the law into your own hand when you're denied justice is one of the oldest Western stories. The Jack Bull is one of the few that recognizes when you take the law into your own hands, it's like setting yourself alone in a boat across the ocean. You have nothing but your wits and your will to deal with all the forces that come against you and decisions and actions that seem right can have disastrous consequences. A corrupt justice system fails Myrl Redding, but no justice system can withstand men who pursue their own righteous satisfaction to the exclusion of all else.In addition to being smart and compelling, The Jack Bull has a marvelous cast. Strong performances abound, particularly Scott Wilson and John Goodman as another territorial judge who is committed to seeing justice done to its fullest extent. John Cusack is tremendously effective, never letting what Myrl Redding represents overwhelm the character's simply humanity. And Director John Badham does an excellent job at capturing the extremes which lived side by side in the dying days of the Wild West.The Jack Bull is an outstanding movie and is a must see of the modern Western.

Wow, having read the good reviews on IMDb, and being a fan of Cusack, I decided to watch this movie with a few friends. I have not seen a movie this slow, boring, redundant, and dull in a long time. It's all about the script - Myrl repeats his "mission" every chance he gets, just as every other character does. It's like the writers were afraid that the viewers wouldn't understand the complicated plot (which can be summarized in one sentence), and so they have the characters reiterate it in every other scene. The characters are as two-dimensional as they come. I guess that's to be expected in a Western, but that adds to the monotony. Every time Myrl opens his mouth, it's the same old thing. Every time Ballard opens his mouth, we know what he's going to say.Eventually we became joking among ourselves - "hey, maybe something will happen in the next scene!" But usually, nothing did. And I don't mean that I was expecting action scenes - I would have been happy with an interesting dialog, a plot twist, a historical introspection. Nothing.I should note that the acting and cinematography were great, but that didn't help the boring script.

To those of us who follow any of HBO's original programming, it should come as no surprise that a film on the level of THE JACK BULL premieres on HBO. While the folks out in Hollywood are busy heaping money on so-called films such as AMERICAN OUTLAWS and TEXAS RANGERS, leave it to HBO and John Cusak to come up with the good stuff. Though the big screen fare is far glossier (and no doubt costlier), Cusak's gritty western is simply far superior. Boasting a cast including Cusak, John C. McGinley, John Goodman, and L. Q. Jones, the film out-acts its big screen competitors by a mile and a half. Combine it with a cold, smart, gritty screenplay by Cusak's dad and strong direction by John Badham and you have a film worthy of inclusion among really good Westerns. f you want to see Ashton Kutcher, James Van Der Beek, Colin Farrell, or Usher Raymond, you'll have to rent the other two. But if you want to see something more on par with Clint Eastwood's UNFORGIVEN, well then, THE JACK BULL is calling your name!