Benny is an eleven-year-old Navajo “city boy” spending the summer at his grandmother’s Arizona sheep ranch. While his parents are going through marital difficulties, Benny’s primary concern is attending the Fleetwood Mac concert he was promised. His dad thinks he is too soft and feels that the ranch will “make a man” of him. His beloved Aunt Sharon deposits him at the ranch, taking off on her adventures.
Uncle Roger lives there, too, but is sullen and unkind. He tries to put Benny to work around the place with little success. Soon “Frybread Face,” as she is teasingly called, is deposited there. She is Benny’s cousin, a little older and much savvier.
Grandma speaks no English, and Fry translates if she feels like it. The cousins gradually grow on each other, with Fry bestowing pearls of wisdom on Benny. The kids even start helping out, and Grandma lets the kids be themselves, though Bennie isn’t living up to the masculine standards of the men. By the end of the summer, both kids have more self-confidence.
This movie is a delightful, funny, and warm work of art; the director’s trip back to re-imagine his past.
Director: Billy Luther
Writer: Billy Luther
Starring: Keir Tallman as Benny
Charley Hogan as Fry
Sarah H Natani as Grandma
Jeremiah Bitsui as Uncle Roger