"Amarillo by Morning" is a half-hour documentary short film from almost 20 years ago. The writer and director is Spike Jonze, a music video director mostly back then, but today a "real" film director and Academy Award winner. There is certainly some irony to this little movie with everybody talking about the boy's prospects in the world of bull-riding. I wonder where he is today. And where the other people in this film are today. As for Jonze, he is in Hollywood, as successful as ever and he was obviously the one with the biggest future in this film here. This was done shortly before his 30th birthday by the way. There are some decent moments in here, but as a whole this documentary was not particularly interesting or engaging I thought. But you can't really blame Jonze as he was still learning at this point. And he learned good. Only worth a watch for completionists of the famous filmmaker. Or for those who love the Wild West mentality. Everybody else can do without the watch. Not recommended.

Spike Jonze's work always has a sort of realism and thoughtfulness to it that usually grounds everything else. The only difference between his other works ("Adaptation", "Sabotage" by the Beastie Boys) and this one, is that this is a documentary.Spike more or less just follows a group of kids as they tell stories, practice on becoming rodeo stars, and overall just hang out. Personalities emanate from the screen, and you start to get a feeling of who these kids really are.Of course no movie can be completely objective, but this film fulfills the promise of great documentaries because it is tells a story that some people might not be familiar with, and it does it in an entertaining way through empathy and clarity.They occasionally wear cowboy hats and blue jeans, but above all they kind of remind me of a lot of American teenagers growing up in suburbia, albeit in their own version.*Spike Jonze recently directed Arcade Fire's "Scenes from the Suburbs", I'm not suggesting that there's a direct connection, but I think this seems to cover some of the same themes.

This is probably the most truthful documentary I can think of. I know why Spike was drawn to these guys. He comes from skateboarding and these guys are the boarders of Texas. Sure they're Christians and say "sir" and such, but boil it down to the basics and take a look friends. They are trying to live life their way. Trying to break away from where they are and who they are. Finding a path for themselves. Just like all kids want, right. I'm 54 years old and I wish them the best of luck. Damn I do! Well, that about it.