SWEETHEARTS OF THE PRISON RODEO A feel-good sports movie you can wrap your thighs around without blushing, Bradley Beesley's film opens the door into two arenas doc-watchers rarely frequent: state penitentiaries and rodeos, which have been merged in Oklahoma at a massive roundup performed entirely by cons. An annual tradition for seven decades, the bull-and-bronc festival had just begun allowing inmates from a women's prison to participate when the film was being shot, so Beesley hones in on the gals as they train, prep and try to stay out of trouble in the weeks leading up to their showdown in front of thousands. It's a thick ethnographic slice, for sure, if a little PBS in its rhythms, with a narrative net spread thin and wide by suspenseful parole-hearing melodramas, ubiquitous maternal angst and a wrenching family-reunion clinch to beat all comers. The issue of overincarceration (particularly in Oklahoma) infests the overall high, while we grow a little suspicious about Beesley's favoring of pretty white/Latina cons over black, fat or ugly. All told, though, there's enough rosy-cheeked drama, triumph and sacrifice for a ready-made Hollywood remake — it might be the cred project Jennifer Lopez and Cameron Diaz are looking for. (Michael Atkinson) (Downtown Independent)

Advertising disclosure: We may receive compensation for some of the links in our stories. Thank you for supporting LA Weekly and our advertisers.