Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.0

Cowgirls 'N Angels Blu-ray Movie Review

Saddle Up

Reviewed by Casey Broadwater March 27, 2013

What's the only difference between Cowgirls 'N Angels? If you don't know, this equine-centric drama trots out the answer no fewer than three times: "Angels don't ride as good." The movie is filled with these kinds of folksy—and, yes, sometimes grammatically incorrect—quips, and it tells a feel- good story that's just as succinct, out to touch hearts with a simple country music-style sentimentality. The plot synopsis even reads like the verses of a twang-heavy, straight-outta-Nashville tune, with a hard workin' single mom, her spunky daughter—who learns to trick ride in order to find her long- gone cowboy of a daddy—and an elderly rodeo star who takes the precocious young girl under his increasingly frail wing. This is low-budget family- friendly material that will appeal most fervently to horse-loving girls between the ages of eight and twelve. It's cornball and melodramatic and a bit too generous as it doles out one life lesson after another, but Cowgirls 'N Angels is at least the sort of good, clean, age-appropriate fun that many parents accuse the movie industry of no longer making.

The film's pony-sized protagonist is Ida Clayton (Bailee Madison), a mischievous twelve-year-old who looks like a tiny tween version of Once Upon a Time's Ginnifer Goodwin. Generally unsupervised, Ida spends her summer days getting into trouble at local rodeo events—there ain't nothin' better to do, she explains—which infuriates her hard working single mom, Elaine (Elicia Witt), who's wary of cowboys after Ida's father ran out before the girl was born to travel the bull-riding circuit. Ida's obsessed with finding out who her daddy really is, but from stolen glimpses at her mom's old diary, the most she can discover is that his name is Walker. No, not that Walker, although Ida does have a poster of Chuck Norris and his "Code of Ethics" up on her bedroom wall. She should probably pay closer attention to the famed Texas Ranger's moral prescriptions; early in the movie, Ida gets busted for stealing aspirin from a drugstore, and later she's found sneaking into a barn to bond with a horse that belongs to former rodeo champ Terrence Parker (James Cromwell), a lanky seventy-something widower who manages a supergroup of young trick-riding cowgirls called The Sweethearts. If your most recent exposure to James Cromwell is his deranged performance as an ex-Nazi scientist on American Horror Story: Asylum, you'll be surprised by how sweet he is here.

Terrence—who was good friends with Ida's grandpa—offers the little imp a deal; if she'll "quit lyin' and stealin'," he'll teach her how to ride and take her out on a tour of the west with the Sweethearts...with her mother's permission. Clearly not yet about to hold up her end of the "quit lyin'" bargain, Ida forges a letter from her mom and begins her training. As The Sweethearts' co-manager, Terrence's daughter Rebecca (Kathleen Rose Perkins) is initially wary—"You cain't make a silk purse outtuva sow's ear," she says—but Ida shows natural aptitude for horseback riding and is quickly accepted as a junior member of the team. Of course, Ida has an ulterior motive. In stopping at every rodeo between the Mississippi and the Rocky Mountains, she hopes to run across her absentee father and convince him to come home.

A low-intensity, moral-driven movie about faith, love, and taking responsibility for one's actions, Cowgirls 'N Angels is somewhat short on drama, and it compensates by having Ida either throw periodic temper tantrums—"I HATE YOU MOM!"—or turn on the hysterical weepy waterworks. Since her help me find my dad storyline can't really sustain the entire 90-minute runtime, the film also introduces Kansas (Dora Madison Burge), a pretty 21-year-old Sweetheart with a troubled past whose trick-riding skills bring all the cowboys to the yard to gape and titter. Kansas falls for the smooth-talking rodeo roadie Justin (Jackson Rathbone), but don't worry, moms; they only barely begin to kiss onscreen before Rebecca—who maintains a fast rule about fraternizing with boys on tour—has a cow and pulls them away from one another. The film is rated PG for a one or two light swear words, the blink-and-you'll-miss-it appearance of a beer bottle, and, I dunno, general mischief I guess.

All troublemaking is punished, however, and lessons are duly learned by the end of the film, with the characters' actions informed by quaint aphorisms like, "A man don't need to know how to ride, he needs to know how to fall." Or, "Believin' and trustin' is two different things." Or, better yet, "You cain't go livin' yer life lettin' all those yesterdays define yer tomorrows...not if you wanna be a trick rider." The film even has a character named Augustus the Rodeo Preacher (The Wire's Frankie Faison), who has no part in the story other than to pray for folks, buck up the downhearted, and exemplify how to live a noble cowboy/cowgirl life. As down-home hokey as Cowgirls 'N Angels can be, it's hard to deride such a good- hearted family movie. Young girls who aren't already jaded entirely by pop culture should find Ida's quest relatable and enjoyable.

Cowgirls 'N Angels Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Cowgirls 'N Angels trots onto Blu-ray with a 1080p/AVC-encoded presentation that looks true to source, even if the low-budget kid movie cinematography is nothing to hoot 'n holler about. Shot digitally, the film has a clean, almost noiseless look—though noise does spike as expected during darker scenes—and there's been no DNR or edge enhancement tampering to sully the picture. Furthermore, compression/encode/source issues are limited to light periodic aliasing on some fine parallel lines—no real distractions here. Clarity is consistent, and if the image isn't the sharpest you've seen lately, there's at least a commendable sense of detail and texture in the areas where you tend to notice it most. Color is only lightly graded, giving a soft, realistic look, and contrast is balanced, neither blowing out highlights nor crushing shadow detail. This looks like a made-on-the-cheap horse movie, and I doubt the target audience will care much if it's in high definition or not, but Cowgirls 'N Angels looks as good as it's probably ever going to look here.

Cowgirls 'N Angels Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

For a low-intensity kids' movie, an appropriately low-intensity DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 surround track. The mix ain't bad, just quiet. Dialogue drives most of the experience, and it's always clean, balanced, and easy to understand. Surrounding this, you have light ambience—wind and bird sounds, singing crickets, rodeo crowd clamor—and a few rare cross-channel effects, like the prancing of horse hooves. Rounding it all out is a blend of inspirational orchestral cues and cheap-to-license country tunes from rising artists, anchored in the front speakers but bled out into the rears for some mild immersion. No issues here. The disc also includes a French Dolby Digital 5.1 dub, along with English SDH and Spanish subtitles in white lettering.

Cowgirls 'N Angels Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Behind the Scenes of Cowgirls and Angels (HD, 23:49): This is the only extra on the disc, but it's a nicely put-together making-of documentary that not only features interviews with the director and stars, but also with random crew members, who get to have their own day in the bonus features sun.

Cowgirls 'N Angels Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Cowgirls 'N Angels ain't high-falutin' art, but it does capably tell a simple love-and-life-affirming story that should appeal to the target audience of horse-adoring pre-teen girls. Watchful parents will pleased too by the movie's inspirational tone, squeaky-clean content, and positive moral message. 20th Century Fox's Blu-ray release isn't a must-own blind-buy by any means, but those interested in the film will appreciate the disc's solid audio/video presentation and the inclusion of a genuinely interesting making-of documentary.