Get Low (2009): A movie spun out of equal parts folk tale, fable and real-life legend about the mysterious, 1930s Tennessee hermit who famously threw his own rollicking funeral party... while he was still alive. (7.0)
Director: Aaron Schneider
Writers: Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell
Stars: Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray
The story is funny and folksy at the same time, keeps you interested by hinting at a nugget of hidden gold somewhere. The performance by the established trio of actors is superb. A lot of effort has been put into the production of the sets, the locations, etc. The name of the movie, and frankly the trailers and such give the wrong impression of what the story is really about, and that sets the wrong expectation in the viewer. I wanted to hear a story about an old-timer who has a good time hearing good and bad, funny and sad stories from people ... things they'd have said after his death. That is precisely what I didn't get in this story. Instead, it is a story about an old hermit, and why he is that way. For me, I'm not sure the reason revealed at the end justifies the whole round-about journey to get there. After the movie, I felt like I'd just peeled and onion; there's nothing in it. That isn't to say there isn't something. There certainly is, but the failure is in the storytelling. My Rating: 6.5
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