Concrete: A Familiar yet Vital Story

Sadly, Ricky Staub’s Concrete Cowboy contains a story that’s all too familiar.  Cole (Stranger Things’ Caleb McLaughlin) is an angry young man, always in trouble, whose mother sends to him live with his father Harp (Idris Elba) in Philadelphia. This is not a situation either of them welcome, the young man’s anger towards his father for having left him obvious.  However, they bond over an unexpected source – horses. Harp belongs to a small, proud community that cares for and rides horses in the City of Brotherly Love, staunchly holding on to a part of the city’s heritage and history that’s in danger of being forgotten.

You’ll recognize many of the plot points on display here as Cole and Harp take a one-step, forward-two-steps-back approach to one another. However, the sincerity the two actors bring in realizing their character’s respective sense of pain is genuinely moving, while the real-life setting – there IS a real horse culture in Philadelphia – grounds the film, making it feel timely and real.  There’s an urgency to this tale, the vibrant nature of its telling making it vital, necessary viewing. 3 1/2 Stars – Rated R – 111 minutes.  Streaming on Netflix.