8 Seconds (1994)

Portraying the real rodeo champ Lane Frost, Luke Perry looks right at home atop a bucking bull. But away from the arena, he's hog-tied by a blah script. Schematically charting Frost's steady rise to the top of the circuit, the film has little drama until about halfway through, when fame starts taking its toll on this cowboy's marriage. Director John G. Avildsen (Rocky, The Karate Kid) handles the hard times with relative restraint, and that's a shame — the movie could have used a good kick to get it going. C+