'The Mustang' review: A prisoner, a wild horse and a tame story

Filmed mostly in western Nevada, not far from where Clark Gable and Marilyn Monroe philosophized about "mustang blood" and the changing American landscape in "The Misfits" (1961), "The Mustang" marks the feature directorial debut of French actress, writer and director Laure de Clermont-Tonnerre. It's solid if dramatically predictable work — part prison picture, part horse story.

Bull-like Matthias Schoenaerts brings formidable presence to the role of Roman Coleman, a tight-lipped convict doing time for a crime left unspecified until a strategically placed monologue late in the picture. A recent transfer from another facility, Roman first appears in a "pre-classification" meeting with a prison psychologist (Connie Britton). Assigned to outdoor duty, Roman soon joins the Wild Horse Inmate Program overseen by the Bureau of Land Management. Mustangs captured for the program (a real program, by the way) are turned over to the inmates. Once they're broken in and sufficiently trainable, they move to public auction.

"The Mustang" sets up its narrative so that Roman and his horse Marcus recognize each other's similarities instantly. As the program's wizened horse trainer (Bruce Dern, enlivening some generic dialogue) pushes the prisoners toward greater understanding and patience, Roman butts up against his own fears. (At one startling point, the prisoner's frustration bursts into a physical assault on the horse.)

Gradually, the relationship improves. Roman's periodic visits with his pregnant teenage daughter (Gideon Adlon), who wants to sell the family home take on a more forgiving light. The screenplay sketches a few complications for Roman, notably a cellmate (Josh Stewart) who snorts the horse tranquilizer ketamine and lurks as a dangerous reminder of the prison's criminal underworld.

The director workshopped her script at the Sundance labs for several years before completion. You have to wonder if a messier but more interesting version of "The Mustang" didn't get left behind in some of the rewrites. The film's impressive as far is it goes, but is exceedingly tidy in its beat-by-beat developments, and outside of Roman and Marcus, the supporting character roster struggles to make an impression.