Junior Bonner is a 1972 American contemporary Western film directed by Sam Peckinpah and starring Steve McQueen, Robert Preston, Joe Don Baker, and Ida Lupino.

After flooring his arrogant brother with a punch, Junior bribes rodeo owner Buck Roan to let him ride Sunshine again, promising him half the prize money.

The film's final shot shows JR leaving his hometown, his successful ride on Sunshine continuing to put off the inevitable end of his rodeo career.

He accepted the project, concerned with being typed as a director of violent action (at the time, The Wild Bunch was his most renowned film, and Straw Dogs was in preparation to be released to theaters).

[10][11][12] Roger Ebert, writing for the Chicago Sun-Times, gave the film two stars out of four and called it "a flat-out disappointment, despite Peckinpah's track record and his proven ability to elegize the West...the movie simply never comes together and works as a whole.

"[13] Gary Arnold of The Washington Post stated that McQueen was given "precious little written character to play or emotion to express", and that the film was "easy to take, yet so insubstantial that there's no compelling reason to see or remember it.

Steve McQueen stars handily in the title role, with Robert Preston and Ida Lupino returning to pix in excellent well-turned characterizations as his estranged parents.

"[17] Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote: "This lively, affectionate contemporary Western, which stars Steve McQueen in one of his finest performances, is one of the most enjoyable pictures Peckinpah has ever made and surely is his most appealing.