In a word – wow. But since I’m not out to set any records for World’s Most Succinct Blogger, I’m going to expend just a few more words on Brad Beesley and his latest film, Sweethearts of the Prison Rodeo. 

I’m a longtime Beesley fan, and Sweethearts may actually turn out to be my favorite of his films. Of course, I need to see it again (preferably when I’m a little less drunk, and a little less distracted by peripheral conversations) but I was really, really impressed.

Beesley has an amazing ability to take what could be easily mockable material (oh, look at the Okie backwoods hicks with their crazy noodling and their prison rodeos) and tell a great story while preserving the human dignity of his subjects. He’s always respectful, never smug or condescending. And in the process of entertaining us with a good tale, he gets us to really care about people we probably wouldn’t be inclined to empathize with ordinarily.

At the risk of sounding totally Kum Ba Yah (I’ll try to save the really hippie, peace-and-love stuff for Saturday night) – I’ll just say that I left this film reminded of our common humanity. I also left the film even firmer in my conviction that we seriously need to work on reforming our drug laws, but that’s a whole other post.

To my surprise, Beesley and three of the women featured in the film were in attendance, and took a few questions after the film. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a chance to ask Beesley to marry me.

Be sure to catch this film when it comes to HBO this fall.

Check out the deadCenter Live Blog at their site. Check back here and at The Filmcake for additional coverage.