On April 2nd, a film debuts on Netflix called Concrete Cowboy starring Idris Elba and this is a story about black cowboys living in the urban jungle living in the concrete jungle in Philadelphia.
It’s a story about a man connecting with his teenage son or teenage son connecting with the father but set in the backdrop and the element of black cowboys and that like hundred year plus history of what that’s like.
Concrete Cowboy directed by Ricky Staub is starring Idris Elba, Caleb McLaughlin, Laureen, Lorraine Toussaint, Jerrell Jerome, method man is in this. There’s a story about a young man who’s troubled and gets going through it in school and his mom sends him off to live with his dad and she drops him off and says nah you dude you’re gonna stay here with your father and he doesn’t want to stay.
She packs all his stuff into a couple plastic bags and just leaves him on the doorstep of her dad who’s played by Iridius Elba. It just comes home and finds a kid there or he goes and finds out where his dad is.
Over at the stables where they have all these horses and it’s kind of this son with the father thing “I don’t want to be here, I don’t want to be with you, You’re not my dad”
So there’s a relationship story going on here but most of it as mentioned in the intro has to do with the backdrop of the black urban cowboys in this environment and so we learn some things about it and it’s just Elba dealing with this kid and creating that bond.
Movie was actually about the idea that they didn’t do this thing where they put the teenage kid who’s troubled and put with the father and they’re going to hate each other at first. Then, they’re going to bond together and they’re going to grow and he’s going to teach him somethings.
They did to a degree Idris puts him through some shit and it’s not a kumbaya thing right away. He just does not embraces this kid, there’s some history there, learn about it. We liked the way it was done as it was not typical storyline in fact there’s probably 30 minutes or so 45minutes into the film and Idris still hasn’t really connected with this kid like there’s no real like touching moments until later on in the film.
That’s some of the strength of the actual picture. Also, the performances here from Caleb McLaughlin, Idris Elba, Jerrell Jerome are really good here. Method man does well in this movie. there are some actual black cowboys from fletcher street, fletcher street stables which are in Philadelphia which is where this all takes place.
Things that disappointed aren’t so much about the film but it also just makes you feel bad like you kind of scratch your head because you find out that through the efforts of the city and through gentrification and what’s taking place in the neighborhood like they’re going to lose the stables and they actually rent they don’t own anything.
There’s scene in this where the horses are taken from them and the land is taken from the stables and everything gets shut down. They seem to be kind of nomad, it’s like watching nomad land but it’s black cowboys and they’re just moving around but there was no stability and no real sense.
Final Words
It was odd and a little shocking that there wasn’t actual ownership of this land. This culture was strange and off-putting.
It’s a good movie, my dad told to see it. It took my dad’s advice and thank him for recommending to watch this movie. It doesn’t feel like my time was wasted like some other crap. Concrete Cowboy – Idris Elda go ahead and check it out, It’s worth watching. It’s a good film that shows the culture the whole black cowboy thing is kind of cool.