The story is of two teenage brothers living together on a small property in Bixby, Oklahoma (a small town about twenty miles south of Tulsa). Tex (Matt Dillon) is the younger and Mason (Jim Metzler) is the older. Their mother is dead and their father rarely shows up. The brothers are doing everything they can to avoid the clutches of social services.
The dynamic of their relationship is one of frustration, love, and anger. Their lives are not easy and money is running out. To buy food and get the lights back on Mason is forced to sell Tex's horse and of course that infuriates Tex and he takes off in a rage. The poignant scene that has Mason drive his pickup along the road to coax Tex back is an early scene that establishes the tone of the relationship between the siblings.
It is not clear where this story will go. There are some moments along the way where it looks like Tex is going to take a very wrong turn when in the company of a drug dealing friend.
The young Dillon and Metzler carry the movie by their natural performances; the kids talk and act like most kids of their age did in that place and time (early 1980s). The fact that the movie was filmed on location in Bixby and Tulsa adds to the feeling of authenticity.
This movie does not go beyond the scope of being a simply-told, affecting tale and, within that scope, it delivers admirably. Some sentimentality creeps in toward the end, but for what it is I found this modest movie satisfying.
The dynamic of their relationship is one of frustration, love, and anger. Their lives are not easy and money is running out. To buy food and get the lights back on Mason is forced to sell Tex's horse and of course that infuriates Tex and he takes off in a rage. The poignant scene that has Mason drive his pickup along the road to coax Tex back is an early scene that establishes the tone of the relationship between the siblings.
It is not clear where this story will go. There are some moments along the way where it looks like Tex is going to take a very wrong turn when in the company of a drug dealing friend.
The young Dillon and Metzler carry the movie by their natural performances; the kids talk and act like most kids of their age did in that place and time (early 1980s). The fact that the movie was filmed on location in Bixby and Tulsa adds to the feeling of authenticity.
This movie does not go beyond the scope of being a simply-told, affecting tale and, within that scope, it delivers admirably. Some sentimentality creeps in toward the end, but for what it is I found this modest movie satisfying.