Film Review: ‘The Long Rider’: Snatching Defeat From the Jaws of Victory

NR | 1h 36min | Documentary | 24 June 2022 (USA)

The opening scene in director Sean Cisterna’s new documentary “The Long Rider” shows narrator and co-photographer Filipe Masetti Leite atop one of his three horses heading towards a stadium on the distant Brazilian horizon.

Filipe Masetti Leite at a stop in "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

He’s wearing an ornate, rodeo-inspired shirt, and delivering a tear-tinged, carefully-worded monologue telling us that he’s nearing the end of a multi-year-long journey.

Leite doesn’t tell us where this trek started, and it really doesn’t matter as he’s informing us he has reached his desired destination in one piece. In the space of three minutes, co-producers Cisterna and Leite have all but spoiled what we’ll be seeing over the next 90.

Filipe Masetti Leite from the documentary, "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

Whatever roadblocks Leite and his equine companions met were conquered, reducing what could have been a gripping real-life thriller into a lukewarm, man-and-his-horses, human interest fluff piece.

Literary Inspiration

Born in Brazil, Leite’s family moved to Calgary, Alberta when he was 9 years old. His parents were horse aficionados and, as stated by Leite, he was riding them before he could walk.

His life forever changed when his father gave him the 1933 book “Tschiffely’s Ride” by A.F. Tschiffley. In it, the Swiss-born Tschiffley chronicled his solo horseback trip from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Washington, D.C. From this point forward, Leite was fixated on, if not matching Tschiffely’s accomplishment, eclipsing it.

As defined in the film, a “long rider” travels over 1,000 miles in a single journey by himself on horseback. It doesn’t go into detail about what a “single journey” might entail or how many stops one can make when going from point A to point B, meaning: It’s highly subjective and open to interpretation.

Filipe Masetti Leite and his three horses in "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

Leite’s goal is to travel from Calgary to his birthplace (Sao Paolo), roughly 8,000 miles, over the course of two years. He plans on going no further than 30 kilometers (about 18 and half miles) per day as to not put too much wear on the horses, which would leave him 300 days of down time or “wiggle room,” something of which he will need in spades.

Bad Planning

From the get-go, it becomes clear that Leite spent more time dreaming and fantasizing about his trip than actually planning for it. For instance, he chooses to depart Calgary in July when the average temperature is 62 degrees Fahrenheit. Not too bad. But upon arriving in Montana in August, the average is 78 degrees Fahrenheit and it only gets warmer the further south he goes, and by the time he hits Mexico, well…fugetaboutit.

Had Leite left Calgary in April (average 52 degrees Fahrenheit), it wouldn’t have been nearly as warm so early into the trip. His departure date was not etched in stone; he could’ve left whenever he wanted. He also forgot to pack water before he left. Oops.

Filipe Masetti Leite in "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

The weather becomes the least of Leite’s worries once he arrives in Central and Northern South America. This is a region so engulfed in graft and red tape, it makes the bureaucracy in Washington look Utopian by comparison.

Whether it be Panama, Peru, Bolivia, Honduras, El Salvador, or Nicaragua, getting through each country requires official travel and agricultural documentation (most of them not transferable from one country to another). He was stranded in Panama for 91 days while waiting for his paperwork to clear.

In one instance, Leite cannot bring the horses through one of these countries on foot; they must be hauled through in a trailer for the entirety. I’m not an expert on such matters, but I don’t think this portion of the trip would qualify as “riding a horse.”

This is just another glaring example of Leite’s severe lack of preparedness.

Prone to emotional outbursts, frequent sobbing, and a case of self-described “post-partum depression,” it would also appear Leite wasn’t psychologically prepared (or didn’t prepare himself) for such an endurance test which, admittedly, is beyond the realm, scope, and capability of most humans.

Not for Pre-Teen Children

In most instances, this type of movie, perhaps not the content itself but the idea of having a long term goal and carrying through with it, would make for ideal family viewing, especially for the young folks. But not here. The movie comes without an MPAA rating, but had it been, it would be “R” as Leite drops a half-dozen thoroughly avoidable “F-bombs.”

Filipe Masetti Leite and his horse companions in "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

Oddly enough (or not), the most satisfying portion of the production takes place after Leite’s homecoming in Brazil during the extended epilogue. It is during this stretch where the time-tested relationship with his girlfriend is revealed, as well as the fate of the ashes of a woman named Naomi he inherited along the way, and what will happen with his three stalwart travelling companions (Bruiser, Frenchie, and Dude).

Director of "The Long Rider," Sean Cisterna. (Prime Video)

Everything that is wrong with “The Long Rider” lies at the feet of Cisterna. While this is Leite’s (pardon the obvious pun) first rodeo, it marks Cisterna’s eighth feature behind the camera, yet it feels like his first.

Too Much ‘Me’

There is more than enough raw visual content and incidental dialogue here to sufficiently propel the narrative; Leite’s narration was not needed, and actually detracts from the final cut, with far too much of his smart phone video lending the film an inescapable, self-absorbed “TicTok” air. The segments not captured on smart phone are by far the most engrossing.

Filipe Masetti Leite in "The Long Rider." (Prime Video)

While the intent here is occasionally inspiring and certainly well-intended, the execution mostly misses its desired mark.

Presented in English with occasional subtitled Spanish and Portuguese.

‘The Long Rider’ Documentary Director: Sean Cisterna Narration: Filipe Masetti Leite Running Time: 1 hour, 36 minutes MPAA Rating: NR Release Date: June 24, 2022 Rating: 2.5 out of 5