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GET LOW
(***½)
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Movie Review by:
Jim "Good Old JR" Rutkowski
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Directed by:
Aaron Schneider |
Written by:
Chris Provenzano, Aaron Schneider & Charlie Mitchell from a story by Scott Seeke
& Chris Provenzano |
Starring:
Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray |
Running time:
102 minutes
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Released:
07/30/10 |
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Rated PG-13
for some thematic
material and brief violent content. |
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"...more than just the sum of a single performance. It is a genuine, often
hilarious period piece...."
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There are movies that exist in the glow of their
greenlight to be a showcase for certain actors. Last year's
Crazy Heart was a perfect example
of a simple story tailor made for a virtuous actor to do his thing. The film was
not much to look at other than Jeff Bridges' performance, but that was where our
eyes were and it was enough to get the man an overdue Oscar. Get Low appears to
have the same sort of pedigree behind it. We have one of the best and most
respected actors in anyone's book, Robert Duvall, as a surly outcast of his own
doing under the guidance of a first-time feature director. Gosh,
Crazy Heart's director, Scott
Cooper, is even featured in a small supporting part. The difference is that Get
Low is more than just the sum of a single performance. It is a genuine, often
hilarious period piece with Aaron Schneider firmly in control of an impressive
lineup of actors and a smoothly inviting script. The similarity is that another
virtuous actor may just walk away with an Oscar again.
Duvall is Felix Bush, an old hermit in 1930s Tennessee. He's just the sort of
codger that children love to dare each other to knock on his door. And run away
from when he comes out with his shotgun. The townsfolk have built up their own
legends about the man who has lived off the radar for forty-some years and,
though he is not demonstrative, he can't ride in without being stared at or
harassed. Time is catching up to Felix and he feels it in his chest. With a wad
of money in his pocket, he attempts to make arrangements for his own funeral
with local priest Horton (Gerald McRaney). Seeing this as an attempt to buy
forgiveness without owning up to his past, he is turned away. But not before
another young man hears part of his story.
That young man is Buddy (Lucas Black), a happily married family man working as
an assistant to an ailing funeral home. People are not dying, laments the home's
owner Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), certainly not like in Chicago where people know
how and when to die. Frank's eyes light up at the prospect of "hermit money" and
they approach Felix to make plans for the end. The old coot has a more novel
idea though. Why wait until he is in the ground? Everyone seemingly has their
own idea or a story they have of who Felix Bush really is and he wants to hear
from them. Come to the funeral, tell a story and buy a raffle ticket for his
land. Humorous as it might be to hear the lies and exaggerations at his behalf,
Felix knows the real story of his life and it may involve the old love, Mattie
Darrow (Sissy Spacek) who got married without him and the aging Reverend (Bill
Cobbs) who is not ready to speak for the man.
Aaron Schneider gets our attention from the opening shot, a blazing inferno of
shadow and mystery, captured beautifully by cinematographer David Boyd. That we
will soon forget about this image as one of the keys to Felix's past is a true
testament to Schneider's relaxed investment in the characters and slowly
building our curiosity to the revelations. The screenplay by Chris Provenzano
and C. Gaby Mitchell smartly takes a cue from its own lesson of not judging
people by first appearance. This is no more true than in the case of Murray's
funeral director who, at times, looks to be one slight gust on his moral compass
away from exploiting Felix's wishes. Murray is no stranger to having that
glazed-over look masking mischief. Over the years though he has developed into
an actor who can not only deliver the zinger, but show a delicate empathy
towards the company he keeps. Murray hasn't stolen scenes like this (on the
record) from a greater spotlight since perhaps Tootsie and is the best work he
has done since his Oscar-nominated turn in Lost In Translation. Duvall is not
the only one deserving of award consideration here.
Still it is undeniable that a good portion of the praise is going to be reserved
for him. Not because he has developed any new tricks or that this is somehow
greater than anything he did in Apocalypse Now, Tender Mercies or The Apostle.
Duvall is just being the actor he has always been and as a character harboring
regret, anger and a secret we all want to hear, just about nobody else, living
or below, can build such anticipation and hold our attention with the smallest
of gestures. And when Felix finally gets to tell that story, watching Duvall
pontificate its details must have been what it was like to see Socrates hold
court or the living embodiment of some ancient prophet who can summon images
before our very eyes with just a few words. Cutting to some of the key
characters during this long-awaited moment is necessary, but if Aaron Schneider
had the capacity to turn the camera on us and just focus on Duvall's face for
the extent of his tale, it would be all the reaction shots he would need.
Get Low leaves a few dangling plot threads to be desired, even frustratingly so,
including a break-in at the funeral home and leaving Spacek's Mattie out of the
conversation down the stretch after a few nice ones with Felix. By that point it
is so all about Duvall and Felix though that such things pass over quickly
enough to not be a distraction until one starts wondering about them on the way
out. Films about dying and forgiveness can be insufferable affairs built around
people you would not hitch five minutes of your time to, let alone pardon, were
it not a movie designed to activate your tear ducts at just the right moment -
as the collective works of Nicholas Sparks can prove. No one will plead "too
soon" at a wake or memoriam for telling a humorous anecdote about the departed.
Get Low is not so much about death as it is finding peace and through that
somewhat uncomfortable discovery some wonderful humor comes forth, topped off
usually by Murray who gets some of the best laughs from me that I've had all
year. Nor is this is a wake for Robert Duvall, who shows no sign of slowing down
and finding projects both big and small to augment with his presence. Suggesting
that it is once again his time for golden recognition is not to imply that his
work in Get Low is the trigger for a lifetime achievement. Just a reminder that
Duvall is as deserving as any winner just about every time out and if it takes
27 years to remind us of that, then maybe the Oscar means less than ever.
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GET LOW
© 2010 Music Box Films
All Rights Reserved
Review © 2010 Alternate Reality, Inc.
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