Buck

Buck is a well-meaning doc about the real horse whisperer. Interviews with Buck Brannaman, Robert Redford and various family and friends reveal Buck had an abusive father. Buck uses his experience being abused to try and empathize with naughty horses, and it becomes clear that Buck is using horse training as his own therapy. What’s unfortunate is the series of events doesn’t seem to be in the right order for a doc. Small victories occur early on and major setbacks happen near the end, which makes the whole thing a downer. Seems to me that the doc would want to end on an up note, with a small victory for Buck. Does that make me sentimental? Or just commercially pragmatic?