Some of Our Stallions follows two best friends, Beautiful Bill (Carson D. Mell, who also directed the movie) and Andy (Al Di, who was also a producer on the project). After doing a brief stint in a mental hospital, both agree that the best way to get their life back on track is to find romance. Along their quest, they meet Bonnie – Olivia Dudley – who falls into a relationship with Andy, leaving Bill as the odd one out in the trio.
That’s until Bonnie falls pregnant. Upon this discovery, Bill comes up with a plan to rob a bank and give the proceeds to Bonnie and Andy’s unborn child, kickstarting a year long series of events that will test the relationship the trio has with each other.
As a story, the movie is driven by the mental problems that plague the two main characters, predominantly Bill. It feels heavily inspired by other pieces which focus on this topic – the opening scene where Bill ends up dunking his hands into boiling oil feels like a more exaggerated version of the opening to Silver Linings Playbook, where the protagonist also has a breakdown as a way of introducing the character. In fact, there were a few points where I wondered if this film was written based around the idea of that movie, but with two main characters instead of the one.
The concept of having a story follow an ultimate bromance changing when one of them meets a woman is by no means an original piece of storytelling, though introducing an original angle by having all the main characters going through their struggles with mental health is certainly a refreshing take. However, something that sounds good as a concept does not always translate well into production.
Though the introduction of the character of Bonnie acts as the inciting incident for the story to kick off and it’s advertised as focusing on these two bros finding love, it often feels like Bill takes up much of the spotlight – and I don’t mean in reference to his towering frame. While it’s not to the extent of being an outright vanity project, it’s still something worth noting. The pacing can feel a bit off at times, considering a year is squeezed into the hour and a half running time – it’s understandable that not everything is going to be shown, but when the writing tries to summarise six months of events in under a minute of dialogue, it’s going to stand out and feel a bit off at points.
However, Some of our Stallions presents itself as a comedy, and though there were a few moments where the comedy landed flat on its face and had me laughing more from awkwardness than humour, there were also some genuinely funny moments. The same goes with the writing – though much of it doesn’t really stand out, there are a few moments with genuine heart. The portrayal of mental health in any form of media demands some level of care and respect, and kudos to the writers and actors who handle a difficult subject matter fairly well.
The production value isn’t really anything to write home about. The only time the editing and camera work stood out to me was during mental episodes that Bill has throughout the running. Some are short and brief breaks from the reality of the plot, but the one towards the end feels like the one of the only real moments where the film dares to be different.
Though Some of Our Stallions failed to stand out to me as a consistently great movie, there were still some moments that made it worth watching. Though, as previously mentioned, it’s a movie that focuses on a male friendship changing with the slightest hint of female influence, and modern cinema is oversaturated with those kinds of stories. It doesn’t do anything to change the sub-genre, it doesn’t particularly stand out as a comedy and there are more entertaining films which feature mentally ill protagonists. However, as a curiosity piece, this film is worth giving at least one watch.
Review screener provided.
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