Get Low movie review
Content
Get Low
(2009)
This type of film is why I watch the trailers on indie films (in this particular case, Inside Job); because you¶ll find out about films you never would have heard of otherwise. As I keep saying, to those few of you who are kind enough to listen, good filmmaking isn¶t dead, it¶s usually sort of buried beneath green-hued superheroes and stupid comedies. Get Low is apparently based on a true story; set in the late 30s, an ornery old hermit named Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) decides that he wants to have a funeral party while he¶s still alive so that he can hear everyone tell stories about him. This unusual request is acted upon by local funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), who¶s mostly in it for the money, and his assistant Buddy (Lucas Black), who takes a personal interest in the old man almost immediately. Together they work to bring Felix¶s plans to fruition, including a lottery to auction off his three hundred acres at five dollars a ticket; but when Felix runs into an old friend, Mattie (Sissy Spacek), it becomes obvious there¶s a deeper motive behind his oddball requests, though Buddy has a difficult time trying to get to the root of things. The period details are excellent here, from Bush¶s rudimentary if cozy log cabin to the old cars and style of dress (and speech). The acting is all top notch; Murray is perfect as the slightly sleazy Quinn, and Black excels as Buddy, catching our sympathy almost immediately and never relinquishing it. Spacek¶s role is smaller, but she¶s so perfectly cast you wish she was there more; she gets the meat of the emotion in the film, and she¶s stellar. And Duvall? Well, this is really his piece; he¶s at the center of the movie, and like the character he plays, he only slowly reveals the inner depths of what¶s really going on. His performance is, to use an overly employed analogy, like peeling layers from an onion (though this doesn¶t make you cry, except possibly at how well crafted the acting is); there¶s more and more as you go. The script is smart, the lush natural scenery ± even though it¶s winter ± is breathtaking, and the acting is excellent. What really holds the movie back from being a classic is, unfortunately, the ending; most of the movie is spent building up to some sort of secret from Bush¶s past, but the revelation fails in every way to live up to the anticipation. It¶s a good story, and the secret, when revealed, is interesting; but I couldn¶t escape the feeling that the movie simply ran out of momentum and eased to a close. It¶s a well-acted movie, engaging, interesting, and overall very well done; but the deflated ending robs the film of the power it spends most of its time collecting, leaving the viewer with a sort of that¶s it?feeling. A good movie worth a look, certainly; just ends kind of limply, which is a shame, because all the ingredients of greatness are there, but you end up with mere goodness -- which is still better than most movies achieve, but near misses are usually more disappointing than colossal failures. July 12, 2011
(2009)
This type of film is why I watch the trailers on indie films (in this particular case, Inside Job); because you¶ll find out about films you never would have heard of otherwise. As I keep saying, to those few of you who are kind enough to listen, good filmmaking isn¶t dead, it¶s usually sort of buried beneath green-hued superheroes and stupid comedies. Get Low is apparently based on a true story; set in the late 30s, an ornery old hermit named Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) decides that he wants to have a funeral party while he¶s still alive so that he can hear everyone tell stories about him. This unusual request is acted upon by local funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), who¶s mostly in it for the money, and his assistant Buddy (Lucas Black), who takes a personal interest in the old man almost immediately. Together they work to bring Felix¶s plans to fruition, including a lottery to auction off his three hundred acres at five dollars a ticket; but when Felix runs into an old friend, Mattie (Sissy Spacek), it becomes obvious there¶s a deeper motive behind his oddball requests, though Buddy has a difficult time trying to get to the root of things. The period details are excellent here, from Bush¶s rudimentary if cozy log cabin to the old cars and style of dress (and speech). The acting is all top notch; Murray is perfect as the slightly sleazy Quinn, and Black excels as Buddy, catching our sympathy almost immediately and never relinquishing it. Spacek¶s role is smaller, but she¶s so perfectly cast you wish she was there more; she gets the meat of the emotion in the film, and she¶s stellar. And Duvall? Well, this is really his piece; he¶s at the center of the movie, and like the character he plays, he only slowly reveals the inner depths of what¶s really going on. His performance is, to use an overly employed analogy, like peeling layers from an onion (though this doesn¶t make you cry, except possibly at how well crafted the acting is); there¶s more and more as you go. The script is smart, the lush natural scenery ± even though it¶s winter ± is breathtaking, and the acting is excellent. What really holds the movie back from being a classic is, unfortunately, the ending; most of the movie is spent building up to some sort of secret from Bush¶s past, but the revelation fails in every way to live up to the anticipation. It¶s a good story, and the secret, when revealed, is interesting; but I couldn¶t escape the feeling that the movie simply ran out of momentum and eased to a close. It¶s a well-acted movie, engaging, interesting, and overall very well done; but the deflated ending robs the film of the power it spends most of its time collecting, leaving the viewer with a sort of that¶s it?feeling. A good movie worth a look, certainly; just ends kind of limply, which is a shame, because all the ingredients of greatness are there, but you end up with mere goodness -- which is still better than most movies achieve, but near misses are usually more disappointing than colossal failures. July 12, 2011
