All Hat (2007)

"...several genuinely impressive performances...breathtaking cinematography...  David Nusair, Reel Film Reviews

Editor's Note After getting out of prison, Ray Dokes returns to the struggling country town he left behind. Though two years may have passed, none of his problems seem to have changed. There's an ex-girlfriend (Lisa Ray) he still pines for, a female jockey (Rachel Leigh Cook) with a chip on her shoulder, and the town rich-kid (Noam Jenkins) who helped put Ray behind bars. In this Western noir--full of horse racing, gunplay, and plot twists--the big question is if Ray can mend his ways, or if the past is destined to repeat itself. Based on the novel by Brad Smith.

	David Alpay
	Ernie Hudson
	Graham Greene
	Keith Carradine
	Lisa Ray
	Luke Kirby
	Rachael Leigh Cook
	Stephen McHattie
	Avi Federgreen, et. al. - Producer
	Bill Frisell - Original Music By
	Brad Smith - Writer
	Glenn Berman - Editor
	Leonard Farlinger - Director
	Matthew Davies - Production Designer
	Paul Sarossy - Cinematographer
	Sean Breaugh - Art Director

Eye Weekly 6 of 10
The return of the prodigal son is one of the sturdiest building blocks in drama, and Canadian director Leonard Farlinger's All Hat leans on it pretty hard -- this story of a small-town shit-kicker (Luke Kirby) who gets out of prison and into trouble is familiar before it begins...Kirby's Ray Dokes is the typical man of few words, so Brad Smith's screenplay (adapted from his own novel) puts the exposition in the mouths of others. Ray's barely stepped out of the car before learning that the community, strong and independent when he headed into the poke, is flailing in the grasp of the same sneering land developer (Noam Jenkins) who -- you'd need cataracts not to see this coming -- had a hand in his incarceration. A lot of this information comes courtesy of Ray's former fling Etta (Lisa Ray, trying hard to not look miscast), whose Romantic Interest status is challenged by a tomboyish jockey (Rachael Leigh Cook) who takes Ray for a literal roll in the hay...Where this is all headed -- Ray learning to harness his temper -- is fairly obvious, even if the route (the plot organizes itself around the whereabouts of a race horse) isn't. The actors all evince commitment to their stock characterizations, but the pacing drags badly...And, the absence of original ideas or inventive technique, that lack of urgency is enough to bring the whole film up lame. - Adam Nayman