8 Seconds MPAA Rating: PG-13 Entertainment: +3 Content: -1 1/2

At age 25, Lane Frost (Luke Perry) becomes the youngest cowboy to win the world championship in rodeo bull riding. He learned the sport of sitting on a bull for the required eight seconds as a little boy on a small ranch in Oklahoma. In 1983 teenager Lane joins two other seasoned cowboys on the rodeo circuit. "Tuff" Hedeman and Cody (Stephen Baldwin and Red Mitchell) become more like brothers as they alternately goad and encourage the promising youngster who quickly outshines them on the circuit. When he falls in love with Kellie Kyle (Cynthia Geary), a very talented rodeo barrel rider, shy, modest Lane wants to prove himself to her by becoming a champion. She dreams of having a home and raising a family, but his meteoric rise to fame presents complications that almost destroy their marriage. Based on a true story, 8 SECONDS delivers the excitement of rodeo competition along with a touching story of friendship, love and relationships.

Lane's misguided priorities stem from constant prodding by his father (James Rebhorn) to do better. When Lane wins his first competition and $500, his father tells him he should have won the $1,000 prize. When he becomes the world champion, his father admonishes him that now the job is to stay on top. Lane tries to buy his father's love with generous gifts while neglecting to buy a home for Kellie. Too late, Lane's heartbroken father cries to his wife, "I can't remember a single time I told him I loved him." Still, the love Kellie and his friends have for Lane is unconditional. Some of the dangerous bull rides become intense as riders are thrown, kicked and gouged by angry bulls. Every time Lane competes, the supposedly eight seconds seems interminable as the audience anticipates tragedy. Both Kellie and Lane have adulterous sexual encounters during a low point in their marriage. Both are filled with remorse and ask each other for forgiveness. These encounters are implied through conversation only. Unfortunately, the men use a number of obscenities and profanities and make some crude references to body parts, accounting for the film's PG-13 rating. If this offensive language had been omitted from this inspirational story, 8 SECONDS would be good family entertainment.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: NewLine Cinema, 575 8th Ave., 16th Flr, NY, NY 10018