Latest news with #NealMcDonough
Epoch Times
31-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Epoch Times
‘The Last Rodeo': An Avoidable Misstep From Angel Studios
PG | 1h 58m | Drama, Sports | 2025 First, the good news: 'The Last Rodeo' is leading man Neal McDonough's third Angel Studio project in as many years, and it is slightly better than the last one ('Homestead'). The bad news: It's not nearly as good as 'The Shift,' where McDonough played a humanized incarnation of Satan.
New York Times
22-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
‘The Last Rodeo' Review: One for the Money, Two for the Show
With jaw set and cowboy hat solidly secured, Neal McDonough strides through 'The Last Rodeo' as Joe Wainwright, a former champion bull rider who's believably broken in body and spirit. Ever since the death of his wife ten years earlier, Joe has retired to his Texas ranch to lick his wounds and nurse his regrets. And he has a lot of both, including the broken neck he sustained while riding drunk, an injury that derailed the life of his daughter (Sarah Jones) as well as his own. So when his young grandson develops a brain tumor, Joe needs a way to pay for the boy's treatment and make amends for his own indifferent parenting. And, wouldn't you know it, there's a bull-riding tournament this very weekend in Tulsa, Okla., with a million dollars in prize money. Can Joe hoist his aching knees and weary butt back in the competitive saddle? Oh you just know he can. Directed by Jon Avnet (who wrote the script with McDonough and Derek Presley), 'The Last Rodeo' — the latest Christian-themed film from Angel Studios — proceeds with easeful predictability. The story's conventional beats (the get-back-in-shape montage, the bad news delivered at a critical moment) cohere into a wholesome journey of long-delayed healing. The inclusion of the wonderful Mykelti Williamson, as Joe's longtime friend and rodeo partner, injects a buddy-movie vibe that anchors the action in riding bouts that are smoothly thrilling without being punishing. Keeping religious prodding to a minimum — a crucifix here, a mass prayer there — the movie concludes with McDonough's earnest plea to scan a QR code to purchase tickets for other viewers. The studio used the same gambit with its 'King of Kings' a couple of months ago and hey, if it gets more people into actual theaters, I'll be the last to complain.
Forbes
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
Neal McDonough Saddles Up For Pro Bullriding In ‘The Last Rodeo'
It's the longest eight seconds in sports, a cowboy in bullet-proof vest, precariously perched atop nearly a ton of angry, bucking bovine, holding on with one hand, trying to win style points along the way. And the suddenly hot Professional Bull Riders circuit provides a naturally dramatic backdrop for The Last Rodeo, opening this weekend on more than 2,200 U.S. screens. Veteran actor Neal McDonough produced, co-wrote and stars in The Last Rodeo, its traditionally feel-good story line an outgrowth of his and producer-wife Ruve McDonough's growing love for PBR, which has a significant presence in the film. The couple are so enamored of the circuit that they even became part-owners of PBR's Austin Gamblers team franchise. Neal McDonough in 'The Last Rodeo' McDonough plays Joe Wainwright, a long-retired 50-something bull-riding world champ who gets back on the bucking beast to raise money to treat his mortally ill grandson, facing a brain tumor. McDonough co-wrote the story with Derek Presley and long-time director Jon Avnet (Fried Green Tomatoes, Justified). The bull-riding circuit is a long way from Cape Cod, Massachusetts, where McDonough grew up (and where I, full disclosure, went to high school in Hyannis with one of his older brothers, though I didn't meet Neal until 25 years later, at the premiere party for his movie Walking Tall). McDonough has a long string of Hollywood credits, including roles in blockbuster movies such as Minority Report and Star Trek: First Contact, and lengthy runs in TV shows such as Band of Brothers, Arrow, Desperate Housewives, Boomtown, Justified, and Suits, and as voice talent in Call of Duty games and numerous Marvel animated series. More recently, McDonough has a substantive role throughout the second season of Taylor Sheridan's Tulsa King, an organized-crime series starring Sylvester Stallone. But McDonough and his wife have also gradually gotten more involved on entertainment's business side, progressively producing bigger and bigger projects leading up to The Last Rodeo, which he told me had a production budget of $8 million, his biggest yet. The film is being distributed by Angel Studios, which focuses on films that 'amplify light,' and are frequently faith-based. Angel's unusual business model – all films and series are approved by the Angel Guild, a million-strong group of subscribers who reliably turn out for the projects they embrace – takes a lot of risk, and pressure, off the makers of a small project, McDonough said. 'The Angel Guild, when they vote for something, they'll support it 100 percent,' McDonough said. 'They'll even buy tickets for people who can't afford it.' Like many Angel projects, The Last Rodeo includes a bit of Bible reading alongside the bull riding. It's definitely aw-shucks safe for families. And of course, you can probably guess how it turns out: the good guys win, but the 'bad' guys also say they're sorry, and shake hands. 'Enough of all this darker stuff; Let's make something that talks to the heartland of America,' McDonough said. 'We get to touch on that in writing and producing these films. Give us the opportunity where we don't have to be the bad guy." The two-hour film takes a while to set up Wainwright's many challenges: a former alcohol problem, age, a battered body, a dead wife, and a semi-estranged daughter. The grandson's headache turns out to be a glioma, and insurance only covers a portion of the gargantuan cost of life-saving surgery. In keeping with the spirit of these kinds of projects, the film doesn't interrogate the cost of health care in America, or the limitations of insurance. But it tells a story that will surely resonate well with Angel's target audience, and with fans of bull riding, a niche sport that has boomed lately. The Professional Bull Riders circuit has become so popular, in fact, that it's now owned by TKO Group Holdings, the public company spun off earlier this year from Endeavor Group. TKO's other holdings include UFC, WWE and IMG. And PBR now stages dozens of events annually across the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. For The Last Rodeo, PBR saddled up almost as much as McDonough. 'It feels like you're watching a PBR event,' McDonough said. 'We used their bulls and riders and arenas. It's a great setting to do a sports movie.' The film also conveys some of bull riding's unique aspects. Technically, though riders compete with each other, they're really competing against the clock, to stay on the specific bucking behemoth they've drawn for an endless eight seconds. And given the risks to the riders and support staff in the ring amid the bulls, everyone does a group prayer at the start of each event. 'In most sports, half the people watching hate the other half,' McDonough said. In PBR, 'Throughout the whole evening, everyone is rooting for the riders to get 8 seconds. You're watching the athletes. If you fall off, they're there to pick you up. That's a healthy, competitive spirit. It's a family(-oriented) culture, a family atmosphere.' McDonough, 58 and decades past his high school days playing football and hockey, did not essay riding an actual bull as part of the film. But it was him riding a mechanical bull for multiple takes, getting repeatedly tossed onto piles of surrounding dirt. 'That mechanical bull, when you ride it over and over and over again, you get the snot beaten out of you,' McDonough said. 'Landing on that hard dirt, I got busted up a lot," though not, thankfully for the production's sake, as much as his character does. McDonough, who lives in California, shot the film in Texas and Oklahoma. But he, like many in Hollywood, would love the state of California to do more to keep production in-state. 'It's awful for the industry,' McDonough said. 'I wish the governor was doing more to make it enticing. California has whatever you want for backdrops.' California Gov. Gavin Newsom is expected to propose in the next few weeks more than doubling, to $750 million, the state's tax incentives to keep filming at home. Separately, actor Jon Voigt, one of President Donald Trump's three 'special ambassadors to Hollywood,' proposed several possible solutions in a recent letter, including a $7.5 billion national incentive package to keep jobs and filming in the United States. For his part, Trump has called for a 100% tariff on overseas films, though the White House quickly walked that back, and seemingly no one in the industry knows how such a proposal might work, given a lack of details. Regardless, making The Last Rodeo allowed McDonough a chance to reconnect with one of his favorite experiences growing up, riding horses with his father, and regular family trips to see the Kentucky Derby in Louisville. Now, he's taking advantage of breaks in the shooting schedule of Tulsa King to write and produce more projects of his own. 'Tulsa King has been great. That (filming hiatus) gives me time to write other scripts, or prepare for other films,' McDonough said. His next project 'depends on when the schedule ends. Two weeks later, I guarantee we will be working on another project.'
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Neal McDonough breaks his no-kissing rule for 'The Last Rodeo' scene
Neal McDonough has famously upheld a personal rule against on-screen kissing, but the actor has broken that boundary for his latest project. The actor had a special, milestone kiss with the love of his life, Ruvé, in the movie "The Last Rodeo." McDonough spoke to Fox News Digital about how it felt to get back in the saddle after starring in Western projects, including "Yellowstone," as well as finally being able to "kiss the girl in the end." "I've been riding horses my whole life, so to jump into this saddle is different because I've never really been in this type of saddle before," McDonough said. "I've not been the hero of the movie. I've never been in the position where I get to kiss the girl in the end because, as everyone knows, I won't kiss another woman on screen." "I've never been in the position where I get to kiss the girl in the end because, as everyone knows, I won't kiss another woman on screen." McDonough added it took a bit of persuasion to have Ruvé, who helped produce "The Last Rodeo" and starred as his on-screen wife, on board, especially during their romantic scenes. WATCH: NEAL MCDONOUGH FINALLY GETS HIS ON-SCREEN KISS IN 'THE LAST RODEO' "I convinced my wife, Ruvé. I said, 'Honey, you have to be in the film because I have to kiss the girl in the end.' She's like, 'I don't know how to act.' I'm like, 'Well, you do now.'" Directed by his longtime friend and filmmaker Jon Avnet, the moment wasn't just a cinematic kiss to McDonough, he explained, but the culmination of years of faith and dedication toward his marriage that has withstood the pressures of Hollywood. "We did it, and that was one of my favorite moments I've ever had on a set. There I am, wearing the hero hat, being directed by my favorite director of all time, Jon Avnet, kissing my wife in a movie, finally doing it the way I've always wanted to do it. It's the greatest feeling," McDonough said. Neal and wife Ruvé have been married more than two decades. When Fox News Digital asked what it was like having the spotlight on their romance scenes, he jokingly replied, "Oh, we got it on that day. It was awesome." However, filming the kissing scene took a humorous turn when their daughter, London, was on set during her parents' take. WATCH: NEAL MCDONOUGH SHARES HOW SYLVESTER STALLONE SUPPORTED HIS FILM 'THE LAST RODEO' "Our daughter London was there, and she was like, 'Dad, can you stop? Because I'm famous for one, maybe two takes — eight or nine takes through. I'm like, 'Jon, I need one more. I didn't get that right.' And there we are, mackin' again. And there's London, 'Oh dad, you're grossing me out.'" McDonough explained that he got to show "my love for my wife," knowing the moment was going to be showcased on an 80-foot screen. "Watching me love the thing that I love more than anything on this planet … for me, it was the crowning achievement of everything I've done in my life. "Ups and downs, the hard times I went through because of choices I've made, now are all in the rearview mirror. And I couldn't be happier because all of it was directed by one of my greatest friends, my mentor, my big brother, John Avnet, and I wouldn't be here without you." While "The Last Rodeo" focused on themes of faith, family and redemption in the high-adrenaline world of bull riding, director Avnet shared with Fox News Digital how he tied all the subjects together in his latest project and what it was like working alongside his longtime friend, McDonough. WATCH: 'THE LAST RODEO' DIRECTOR COMPARES NEAL MCDONOUGH TO CLINT EASTWOOD "I really believed in Neil as an actor, and I believed he was a leading man in the model of Clint Eastwood, you know, or John Wayne or Gary Cooper, Jimmy Stewart," Avnet said. "He has an ability to express so much by doing seemingly so little, but, in this case, he was emotionally there. … Here's Neil, no longer a kid. And I think, 'Wow, he's got it. He's got that Western star appeal.'" Fox News Digital additionally spoke with McDonough and his wife at a Professional Bull Riders event in Arlington, Texas, where "The Last Rodeo" star shared what his intense training consisted of. He acknowledged being injured while bull riding. WATCH: 'THE LAST RODEO' STAR NEAL MCDONOUGH SAYS HE WAS INJURED WHILE BULL RIDING "There was a lot of work. … For me, it was mostly mechanical bulls for months and months and months. And that beats the snot out of you. And it was hard, but I just didn't want anything to not look 100% authentic." In "The Last Rodeo," McDonough portrays a retired rodeo legend who risked it all to save his sick grandson. As he faced his own painful past and the fears of his family, McDonough's character entered a high-stakes bull riding competition as the oldest contestant ever. Along the way, he reconciles old wounds with his estranged daughter and proves that true courage is found in the fight for family. "The Last Rodeo" will be released in theaters May 23.
