Showtime (Sun., July 16, 8 p.m. ET)
B+
Rodeo cowboys are a notoriously tough breed. The broncobusters and bull riders on the no-frills prison circuit have to be even tougher. (Prisoners compete against each other in contests open to the public.) Jon Voight, who 26 years ago played the Midnight Cowboy, is the title character, a champion rider with the engraved belt buckles to prove it. But he killed a man, and now he's a lifer at a Montana prison with a working ranch attached. Kyle Chandler (Homefront) plays a hotheaded new prisoner whom Voight runs through an arduous apprenticeship.
Voight is terrific as a man who has distilled life to the essentials in order to survive with dignity.
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