In the American wild there still remain about 100,00 wild horses and at the beginning of the new film “The Mustang” we learn that one way this country deals with these wild horse is to give them to prisons around the country for training and eventual auction.

The Mustang is about several men in jail for committing a violent crime that came from short term rage that resulted in a long term prison term. There are many of us who have thought of violence as retribution for an extreme wrong that has been done to them, but it is the fear of prison that keeps most of us from acting on our most violent instincts.

This story is simple and centers on one prisoner who is in jail for a violent crime, and only due to what is called an “Inmate Wild Mustang program” is able to find both a purpose and some level of peace while coming to terms with what he did. The connection with the one horse assigned to the prisoner Roman, played very well by Matthias Schoenaerts, is long and arduous and at first his anger over why he is in prison is taken out on the horse because of his frustration on not being able to connect with the Mustang. Over time the connection between Roman and the horse is extremely moving and the best part of this film.

It was surprising to see actor Bruce Dern in this movie, considering he is almost 83 years old and still a very good actor. His performance in this movie could be worthy of Oscar consideration, even though this movie has come out early in the year.

The Rotten Tomatoes review for The Mustang are an extremely high 95% and I am giving this film a very solid 85% and I do recommend it for its overall quality and solid acting.