Various cowboys and their women descend upon Prescott, AZ for the Frontier Days parade and rodeo festivities; it's also the hometown of aged rodeo rider Junior Bonner (Steve McQueen), who uses the occasion to drop in on his rowdy, estranged father; his mother, divorced from his dad and operating an antiques store; and his condescending brother and disapproving sister-in-law. Screenwriter Jeb Rosebrook has penned an interesting--if not especially fresh or original--character study, an offbeat project for its high-powered male lead. As directed by Sam Peckinpah, McQueen is in jauntily low-keyed spirits, though he's muted to the point of evaporating into the milieu (something both McQueen and Peckinpah may have intentionally strove for, though I can't imagine why). Robert Preston gives the movie a little extra bounce and theatricality as the wayward father, while cinematographer Lucien Ballard uses slow-motion and freeze-frame effects to help create a mood (it's flashy work often calling attention to itself). Similar in thematic content to Cliff Robertson's "J.W. Coop" from 1971, and not one of McQueen's career highpoints. ** from ****
Review of Junior Bonner
