Sweetgrass attempts to show the decline of sheep ranches in the U.S. by following the last ranchers as they bring the sheep to pasture. Sweetgrass unfolds slowly providing no narration and no music, thereby immersing the viewer into the day-to-day life of the ranchers.

Sweetgrass is the best 1-hour documentary I’ve seen in a while. Unfortunately, it runs an hour and 45 minutes. I certainly appreciate the subtle approach, but the film is, without a doubt, overlong. A good portion of the film consists of sheep eating and walking across the mountains. Some of the shots are incredibly beautiful, but the approach grows tiresome over the long haul.

This technique  provides a very realistic and unsympathetic view of the ranchers, almost to a fault. The ranchers come across with little personality, except for one who complains on his cell phone about things that are going wrong on the trip. The film provides little dialog and the inclusion of this whiny phone call works against the film’s intentions making me glad that this is a dying way of life, at least for that poor guy.

A little clip clip would go a long way to making Sweetgrass an interesting experience. At nearly 2 hours, it’s a painful slog, which is a shame since it is a beautifully shot film that could have been rather poignant.