Raven-1969 A young woman slips away into the night while her family is preoccupied at their beloved country western fair. "Don't look for me," she writes "I have the life I have chosen now." Her father and brother search anyway, across continents and time. The girl's father is particularly obsessed with the search. He throws his life and savings into the pursuit, learns Arabic and travels to the ends of the earth at the slightest hint of her whereabouts. "Forget about your daughter," he is told "go back home and take care of your son." Yet the father sees nothing else beyond the chase. This blinding, relentless pursuit comes with severe consequences. It consumes them, these cowboys - these men and women from scattered lands, if they cannot let go. Some can let go, others cannot. Some get second chances.Intriguing themes of Les Cowboys include letting go and the search for purpose and empathy (or lack thereof) in life. The wonderful cinematography and soundtrack of the film deftly convey emotion. Excellent screen writing; Bidegain is a screen writer turned director. His writing/co-writing credits include films I admire; A Prophet, Rust and Bone, and Dheepan. John C. Reilly makes a surprise appearance.

marsanobill A passel of good old boys and girls wrapped in American flags, sheriff's badges and denim are they're doing what comes naturally: hoe-downin' and boot-stompin' and a-signin' sappy hurtin' songs. Then it hits you: they're actually wearing not ten-gallon hats but 38- liter Stetsons because they're all French. Yup, pardner, there's a subset of Frenchmen that is besotted with the Old West (as are Germans with American Indians), and we are delighting in this charming foolishness when it's suddenly clear that Alain's daughter is missing. Alain and his wife are subsequently astounded to learn that she has dropped all her old friends, taken on serious boyfriend, that he's a Muslim, and that he and she have utterly disappeared. Alain's hunt for her becomes increasingly obsessive, violent and dangerous as he is duped or cheated by various Muslim contacts, more or less ignored by the authorities, and frustrated and humiliated at every turn. Save for an enigmatic visit from a fonctionnaire identified only as a government minister from 'the ministry,' everything hangs together; the story is mesmerizing and fraught with tensions. Then circumstances require that Alain's son, Texanly named Kid, take over the hunt. Here begins a series of high- risk scenes and episodes that are equally mesmerizing but devoid of logic or even the remotest likelihood. These are nevertheless convincing in and of themselves, but if you require logic and likelihood, too bad. For example (spoiler!): early on Kid is out of the blue working for an NGO in Somewherestan, where he falls for a fellow do-gooder but leaves her like that on meeting a shabby and dubious American freelance 'fixer' (fabulous John C. Reilly) who's going on horseback with $800,000 in gold to ransom two guys from the Taliban and doesn't trust his creepy local guides and so he gets Kid to ride along as bodyguard by telling him he knows where the sister is and that Kid can get her back. If that won't work for you, beware: things are about to get a lot worse. This didn't bother me; I just rolled with it. But a companion hated every minute and also detected a flash of incest re father and daughter, sparked by their awkward dance at the hoedown and the theme song, 'Tennessee Waltz.' If so, that, like the sudden burst of anti-Muslim sentiment late in the show, is a toss-in that goes nowhere. As for the climax, it's enigmatic and non- credible. Proceed at your own risk.

billmarsano A passel of good old boys and girls wrapped in American flags, sheriff's badges and denim are they're doing what comes naturally: hoe-downin' and boot-stompin' and a-signin' the sappiest of hurtin' songs (yo, 'Tennessee Waltz'?). Then it hits you: they're actually wearing 38-liter Stetsons because they're all French. Indeed, there's a subset of Frenchmen that is besotted with America's Old West (as are Germans with American Indians), and we are delighting in this charming foolishness when it's suddenly clear that Alain's daughter is missing. Alain and his wife are subsequently astounded to learn that she has dropped all her old friends, taken on serious boyfriend, that he's Muslim, and that he and she have utterly disappeared. Alain's hunt for her becomes increasingly obsessive, violent and dangerous as he is duped or cheated by various Muslim contacts, more or less ignored by the authorities, and frustrated and humiliated at every turn. Save for an enigmatic visit from a fonctionnaire identified only as a government minister from 'the ministry,' everything hands together; the story is mesmerizing and fraught with tensions. Then circumstance require that Alain's son, Texanly named Kid, take over the hunt. Here begins a series of high- risk scenes and episodes that are equally mesmerizing but devoid of logic or even the remotest likelihood. They are nevertheless convincing in and of themselves, but if you require logic and likelihood, too bad. For example (spoiler!): early on Kid is out of the blue working for an NGO in Pakistan or Afghanistan (I forget which) where he falls for a fellow do-gooder but leaves her like that on meeting a shabby and dubious American freelance 'fixer' (fabulous John C. Reilly) who's going on horseback with $800,000 in gold to ransom two guys from the Taliban and doesn't trust his creepy local guides and so gets Kid to ride along as bodyguard by telling him he can get the sister back. If that won't work for you, beware: things are about to get a lot worse. This didn't bother me; I just rolled with it. But a companion hated every minute and also detected a flash of incest re father and daughter. Proceed at your own risk.

roland-wirtz What a mess of a film!The only best part was when it finally ended. Les Cowboys is another unnecessary remake (or reboot or whatever they are called these days). Did the director really think he could top John Ford's The Searchers in terms of storytelling and direction? Why would someone do a remake otherwise? Well, no surprise, John Ford's boots are way too big for Thomas Bidegain. There's a certain arrogance in Les Cowboys that really rubbed me the wrong way. Watching this film felt like watching a 10 year old basketball player trying to keep up with NBA's Dream Team because he's convinced that he's better than all of them. Bidegain (a first time director) thought he had what it takes to tell a story like The Searchers. The fact that he thought he could is actually pretty bold and arrogant. And I can say the same thing about its writer, Noe Debre. Well, as John Wayne would've said: Back to the drawing board, pilgrims!