A construction worker joins a community of queer rodeo performers searching for their own version of the American dream. While working on a ranch in the Southwest, they contend with the undeniable forces of nature, family and love.
National Anthem is directed by Luke Gilford which is his directorial debut.
Very sad to see National Anthem go very unnoticed because this is a really powerful one, it's a beautifully told story about the queer community and figuring out your true self.
Charlie Plummer does a lot of what he did in Lean On Pete (2017) here and that's giving an incredibly touching performance that easily bounces off of the rest of the cast incredibly well, there's a lot of moments where you the viewer feel like your traveling around the film's world with him. He has this spark that activates as soon as he appears on screen that connects with the viewer. Eve Lindley is just as excellent Plummer, she gives a beautiful performance that's incredibly raw, touching and her conversations with Plummer are truly fascinating. Both of them trying to figure out who they are is some of the film's most incredibly compelling moments. It helps the film's script compliments Plummer and Lindley, it gives their characters this natural feel like you may actually know them from somewhere.
The western cowboy setting is absolutely beautiful and very cleverly used here, the way it compliments the story by being about the queer community in the American west something that is often not talked about at all. It's clear that Gilford really wanted to make this as some sort of love letter to the queer community and he does such a such a good job of doing so. It's a very touching story that really compliments its characters.
The film is also quite confident in itself, it pours so much heart into the story and makes sure that viewer connects with these characters as soon as possible. There definitely is some cases of underdevelopment with some of the side characters, but that ultimately doesn't hurt the movie when you have incredibly likable characters, a beautifully written script and a wonderful location to go along with it.
National Anthem is available on all VOD Platforms.
9/10 A
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