SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
Photographer and filmmaker Luke Gilford used to love the color and excitement of going to rodeos with his dad. So critic Bob Mondello says it's no surprise that he's given the same enthusiasm to the hero of his feature debut, the coming-of-age drama, "National Anthem."
BOB MONDELLO, BYLINE: Dylan is a pretty solitary 21-year-old. Day work on New Mexico construction sites means he doesn't even have regular co-workers. His mom's out partying every night...
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ROBYN LIVELY: (As Fiona) I'm walking out the door right now. I'll meet you there. Guys, don't stay up too late.
MONDELLO: His closest relationship is with Cassidy, his preteen brother...
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CHARLIE PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Egg and cheese coming up.
MONDELLO: ...For whom he's sort of a surrogate dad.
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) What do you say?
JOEY DELEON: (As Cassidy) Thank you.
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) There you go.
MONDELLO: So it looks like just another lonely job when he's the one non-Spanish speaker a rancher name Pepe hires for a two-week gig.
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RENE ROSADO: (As Pepe) What about you?
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Yeah, sure.
MONDELLO: But he sits up straighter as they pass through ranch gates that say House of Splendor, and he spies a couple of what look like horse-riding prom queens in pale green-and-blue chiffon. Turns out they're Carrie, a nonbinary soccer-mom type, and Pepe's trans girlfriend, Sky, who's lively and flirtatious in ways Dylan's not used to.
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EVE LINDLEY: (As Sky) Pepe told me all about you. You're trouble, huh?
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) No, ma'am.
LINDLEY: (As Sky) Ma'am? I'm Sky.
MONDELLO: It's not clear at first how much Dylan, who's played with serious reserve by Charlie Plummer, gets about this ranch. But an off-ranch encounter at a big-box store clarifies things when Carrie swipes his hat and offers a wig...
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PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Can I have my hat back now?
MONDELLO: ...And Sky paints his eyelids turquoise.
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LINDLEY: (As Sky) No. Time for makeup.
MASON ALEXANDER PARK: (As Carrie) Go easy on him.
MONDELLO: Pleased by the attention, but slightly freaked out by it, too, he retreats to the parking lot, where Sky, who's played sweetly by Eve Lindley, catches up and suggests he go with them to a rodeo the next day. They'll pick him up, she says.
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PLUMMER: (As Dylan) Why do you care about me? I mean, I'm pretty boring.
LINDLEY: (As Sky) I don't think you're boring. I just think you haven't met your people yet.
MONDELLO: Will his people be at the unorthodox rodeo they head for? Well, there are a lot of people there - lesbian bull riders, gay cowboys, trans barrel-racers. Dylan's eyes take it all in without ever straying far from Sky.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #1: (As character) Whoo.
MONDELLO: Writer/director Luke Gilford makes this queer oasis in a parched Western landscape shimmer with warmth, not so much deflecting questions about homophobia as ignoring them. It's a world apart where outside acceptance isn't an issue. And as Dylan relaxes and thaws, even his mother notices a change.
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LIVELY: (As Fiona) Must be nice to get away from us, too, I guess, huh?
PLUMMER: (As Dylan) It's nice to have a little life for myself, yeah.
MONDELLO: Mom doesn't object when he and his new pals take his little brother to the next rodeo...
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #2: (As character) Hey, Cassidy.
PARK: (As Carrie) Hey, there, Kiddo.
JOEY: (As Cassidy) Hi. Are you a boy or a girl?
PARK: (As Carrie) Yeah. It's OK. I'm neither.
JOEY: (As Cassidy) Cool.
MONDELLO: ...And he hops in the back of a truck.
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UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR #3: (As character) OK, everybody in?
JOEY: (As Cassidy) Everybody in.
MONDELLO: It's plausible? Who knows. But kids say the darnedest things. And with all the politics and pearl-clutching lately surrounding the alleged dangers of drag queen story hours, Cassidy's reaction is, at the very least, disarming, which you could also say about this gentle, unhurried movie. Dylan's summer adventure is fleeting. His big dream - what he's been saving his wages for - is an RV to travel in and see the world.
And as queer rodeo contenders stand hand-over-heart for a glammed-up rendition of what I guess you'd have to call "National Anthem's" title song, you can only hope that that world will prove as welcoming as the one he's found here.
I'm Bob Mondello.
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D'ANGELO LACY: (As National Anthem Singer, singing) Brave.
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