‘National Anthem’ Is the Best Western of the Year (Sorry, Kevin Costner)
Any Western fans aghast over the recent delay of Kevin Costner’s Horizon: An American Saga - Chapter 2, take heed and rejoice: Here comes National Anthem, another Western riding in to take its place.
Watching the trailer for the new indie might lead you to wonder if this suggestion is meant to take the piss out of Costner’s presumed constituency of grandfatherly traditionalists—and it is, a little. But after watching Costner’s noble but (so far) shapeless attempt to make ’em like they used to, it really might do a viewer some good to check out a ranch-and-rodeo movie that feels distinctly contemporary in its conflation of open-West freedom, American community, and the queer experience. Also: It’s 99 minutes, rather than 180.
The first feature from photographer Luke Gilford, inspired by his collection of pictures observing the United States’ queer-rodeo subculture, looks at first like a hardscrabble indie, with the obligatory reckless alcoholic mom (Robyn Lively) replacing the archetypal hard-drinking gambler dad. Dylan (Charlie Plummer) takes any odd jobs he can find to help support his mother and his sweet-natured young brother (Joey DeLeon), while quietly yearning for some little piece of life he can have to himself. (No prizes for guessing what happens to the money he’s squirreling away for that purpose.)