Get Low

The plot is thus: A 1930’s Tennessee curmudgeon of a guy, Frank Bush (Duvall), wants to stage and attend his own funeral while he is still alive. He has lived as a hermit in a small cabin for over 40 years, and many people fear and dislike him. He wants to invite hundreds of people from all around to come and tell their stories about him. He also wants the opportunity to tell his side of the story and reveal the deep, dark secret that has kept him captive for so long. He contacts the local funeral director, Felix Quinn, played drolly (surprise, surprise) by Bill Murray, to assist him. Sissy Spacek’s character, Mattie Darrow, was once a love interest of Bush’s, but it was really Mattie’s sister that Frank longed for.

So there’s this dual-pronged plot: the living funeral and the deep dark secret. Much of the film hinges on developing suspense for the audience around what may or may not be revealed. Is it worth the wait? You decide.

The story is billed as one of regret, forgiveness, and redemption. Perhaps these themes will be felt by the viewer, but one obstacle for me was the lack of character development. There’s a rather flat character arc. Also, the slow paced unfolding of the story could create a short snoozefest, as it did for me.

However, longtime Video Station clerk David “really loved it”, and perhaps you should listen to him. I’m not a huge fan of the western genre, to which this film belongs (or is at least akin to), and I didn’t appreciate the banjo music as much as some other viewers might.

Despite my caveats, as I started to say in the beginning of this review, these three main actors are well worth checking out. The film and its actors have gotten nominated for many awards for this movie, including a Best Actor nomination for Robert Duvall by the Screen Actors Guild.

Speaking of Duvall, if you like one of those heartful dramas, take home Wrestling Ernest Hemingway. Here Duvall and Richard Harris play 70-somethings who have retired in Florida and strike up an unlikely friendship.

The last word on Get Low is that in the Special Features there’s a pretty interesting Q & A with Bob Duvall, Sissy, Bill, and the director Aaron Schneider at the film’s premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival. Always great to see these legends in their civilians. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama/Mystery

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 2/22/11

Which brings us to The Road, based on the award-winning novel by Cormac McCarthy. While reading the book, there were more than a few moments where I caught myself thinking “He’s writing a script.” Spare prose, detailed descriptions, and a story which rarely veered from the path which Father and Son (as they shall be known) were traveling on themselves; it would take a very lazy director not to make a compelling film out of it. Fortunately, in John Hillcoat, whose superb 2006 Australian Outback western The Proposition was a master class in violent minimalism, we have a director who is anything but lazy. But, is The Road compelling? Yes… for the most part.

The story, in a nutshell, deals with the unnamed Father (Viggo Mortensen) and his Son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) as they traverse, slowly and cautiously, through a ruined land in hopes of reaching the sea. An apocalypse has struck, how we do not know (please don’t consult your Mayan calendars), and the earth is rotting away. Humanity, what’s left of it, has been relegated to scavenging to survive; cannibalism is, for some, most definitely on the menu. Father, determined at all costs to protect Son, has only a revolver with a few bullets as protection against the impending savagery. Rumors of a more civilized gathering of the tribes on the coast are all that sustains them. But will they get there?

The film, for all the initial anticipation, was left to sit on the shelf for over a year. There was talk of adding ‘effects’, but if I had to guess, the real problem was that the film, in its unrelenting bleakness, proved impossible to market to a mass audience. Make no mistake: The Road is as grim as its subject matter, with an impressively rendered backdrop of death in every frame. But that doesn’t mean it’s not worth seeing. The performances, not only by Mortensen, who at this late stage (he’s 52 years old!) has become one of the world’s great actors, and the equally superb Smit-McPhee, but also by the brief but excellent cameos by Charlize Theron, Robert Duvall and Michael K. Williams, are all of a very high quality. Hillcoat’s direction is very matter-of-fact, taking full advantage of the hell his design team has wrought, and blissfully willing to linger. The script, a tricky one to capture since McCarthy’s book is almost entirely written as internal dialogue, is spare and meaningful. But, at times, there seems to be something missing. There is little hint of suspense, and occasionally the withholding of information can be confusing if you’re not already familiar with the book. It’s quite possible that this was the best anyone could do.

The hardest part of all of this, of course, is how to convince you that, just as summer looks to be approaching to shake hands, spending a couple hours watching the world end is somehow worth your while. Well, you’ll just have to take my word for it. But, if you were not convinced, perhaps you’d be happier sitting back with a book to read. I’d recommend McCarthy‘s ‘Blood Meridian‘. Now there’s a story that would make a great movie.

Maybe. – [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Adventure/Drama/Thriller

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 5/25/10

Crazy Heart

The movie opens with Bad playing a string of really low-rent venues, beginning with a bowling alley. He’s a major alcoholic, he’s unhealthy, he has no family and no future. Yet there is someone who wants to do an interview with him and in walks Maggie Gyllenhaal. She plays Jean Craddock, Bad’s love interest and a beautiful, young single mom of a 4-year old son. And in walks one of my gripes with the movie. Now don’t get me wrong. None of my gripes is anywhere near a deal-breaker for watching and enjoying Crazy Heart. But how believable is this attraction between Jeannie and Bad? The movie somewhat pulls it off, but the script doesn’t really provide enough detail and build-up to be totally credible. Nonetheless, the story proceeds, with or without my approval, with Bad finding love and a sense of family. But if you don’t mind my saying so, the movie’s pace is also pretty slow to that point. I would have preferred less time seeing what a drunk and has-been Bad had become, and more time with the development of this next chapter of his life. But no one asked me.

So there’s conflict, and there’s transformation, and some other good actors along the way. Colin Farrell plays Tommy, who learned everything he knows from Bad. Farrell continues his capable performances (ya gotta love In Bruges) here as the Country music star who’s ever appreciative of his mentor, Bad. And did I mention that Maggie Gyllenhaal was really wonderful as well? (Her unique acting abilities led me to include Secretary in my Best of the Decade movies). Then you got your Robert Duvall contributing his small, but important part as Bad’s old bartender friend.

There’s a lot of Country music. I’m generally not a big fan of the genre, but there’s some very good music going down in this soundtrack. Stephen Bruton and T-Bone Burnett did the original music for the movie, and Ryan Bingham and T-Bone Burnett won a slew of Best Song awards for “The Weary Kind”. So check out Crazy Heart for its music, but mostly for the career best for Jeff Bridges. (Well, on second thought, can any performance ever really trump Jeff—the Dude—Lebowski?) - [DVD] [Blu-Ray]

Drama/Music/Romance

Rated R

DVD Release Date: 4/20/10

The story is thus: Reese Witherspoon and Vince Vaughn play self-absorbed, in-love yuppies who always spend Christmas apart from their respective families. This year, though, their flight to Fiji is cancelled, and they are coaxed into a visit to each of their four parents’ households. Much levity and dysfunctional family humor ensue. I haven’t really liked Vince Vaughn too much since Swingers, but his character does have ample chemistry with that of Reese Witherspoon’s, and Reese is, as always, really fun to watch.

But there were parts of Four Christmases that were decidedly unfunny for me. One of many examples of this would be a baby being forcefully knocked in the head.

What did appeal to me were the supporting performances of Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Mary Steenburgen, and Jon Voight (his soliloquy on family sounded like a personal message to his daughter, Angelina Jolie). And if that weren’t enough, you also have Jon Favreau, Tim McGraw, Kristen Chenoweth and Dwight Yoakam. I first really noticed Dwight’s acting chops in Slingblade, where he was villainous and amazing, and then later in The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. Four Christmases is worth seeing for these actors alone.

There are two other redeeming factors, if you need ‘em. One is the, of course, happy ending. The other is that after seeing this level of family madness, our own families don’t seem so bad. I still prefer holiday movies like Home for the Holidays and Pieces of April much more than Four Christmases, but check out these seasoned actors, and kick off the holiday season with a fluff movie peppered with some deeper messages. – [DVD]

Comedy/Drama/Romance

Rated PG-13

DVD Release Date: 11/24/09