A good-hearted, but familiar and soapy drama that gets the horns.

“The Last Rodeo” has its heart in the right place regarding family and fame, and how life tries to find the counter balance between both of them. But the movie ends up being too soapy and slow in its narrative and execution.

This is the latest entry in Angel Studio’s filmography, and it tries to use faith to overcome the cynicism of an old man getting back in the saddle again, which, in this case, goes on a bull. The sport is very dangerous, so it would take a professional to ride on them for 8 seconds. Every time we watch that on screen, we’re always excited, and there’s barely anyone here who goes below that. “The Last Rodeo” should cut more than 8 seconds of the cynicism and cliches, and keep on riding with the emotions and bulls.

Neal McDonaugh co-wrote the script and plays a former rodeo star named Joe Wainwright, whose daughter Sally (Sarah Jones) doesn’t want her baseball playing son Cody (Graham Harvey) to ride bulls for his safety. The old man tells his grandson: “You can make more money on a diamond, then on a bull.” But they all share their passion for horse back riding, which is an obviously a lot safer. Unfortunately, after a baseball accident, the boy has been diagnosed with a brain tumor, and Joe’s only recourse is to compete in a bull riding contest which has a million dollar purse.

I wish I had a nickel for every time the daughter has to be estranged from her father given what his rodeo days has done to him and his family. His old buddy Charlie (Mykelti Williamson) is also cynical at first, but he comes around and joins Joe on his trek. And they’re lucky they have an old buddy named Jimmy Mack (Christopher McDonald) to hook them up with a spot in the contest.

It would also be obvious that there would be a young hot shot named Billy Hamilton (real life bull rider Daylon Swearingen) who loves beating old men at their games. And who would win in a bar fight-Joe or Billy? But given Joe’s mission to save his grandson, Billy eventually warms up to him.

And Billy finds out about that, when Charlie sets up a fundraiser for Cody’s operation, which has to aggravate Joe for a little bit. He believes it’s a private matter and he wants to handle it himself, but Charlie thinks otherwise. It’s funny because I was reminded of “Ordinary Angels,” which had Hilary Swank as a recovering alcoholic helping a father raise money for his daughter’s life-saving operation, which starts to piss him off. There’s always cynicism regarding parents rejecting help from strangers in these circumstances, but eventually, they do come around. My philosophy for those parents is when an opportunity comes a knocking, you better go a rocking.

Co-written and directed by Jon Avnet (“Fried Green Tomatoes,” “Up Close & Personal”), “The Last Rodeo” delivers with McDonaugh’s likable performance, who is passionate enough to represent a retired star trying to make up for his lost family years. And he himself is a father of five children, so he knows the counter balance between fame and family, and he has his religious beliefs, which allows him to know the stakes of a faith-based drama. So I know when a movie like this has its heart in the right place. But somehow, I felt it was too easy to be a challenging drama of its kind, and wasn’t really warmed over as I was with “Ordinary Angels,” which also happens to be released by the same studio.

I know what you’re thinking about my review: “This is a bunch of bull.”