Review: Get Low (2010)

Get Low (2010)

3.5

COMEDY/DRAMA

U.S. Release Date: 07/30/10

Running Length: 100 Minutes

MPAA Classification: PG-13 (Thematic Material, Violence)

Aspect Ratio: 2:35 : 1

Cast: Robert Duvall, Bill Murray, Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black

Director: Aaron Schneider

Screenplay: Chris Provenzano, C. Gaby Mitchell, story by Chris Provenzano and Scott Seeke

Cinematography: David Boyd

Music: Jan A.P. Kaczmarek

U.S. Distributor: Sony Pictures Classics

Review by: Carter Moulton

06/26/10

The opening shot of Get Low is spellbinding. We see a long shot of a rural house aflame against an inky night sky. The house is positioned on the left side of the frame, working its way toward the center. As we admire the building’s illumination in contrast to the pool of dark blue air, it comes as a shock when we see a faint figure of a man jump out of the second story window. The camera is stationary, remaining at a long distance, as he runs around the front of the house, flames dancing all over his body. He runs toward the left side of the frame until he disappears into the darkness. A few slow seconds pass. Then the dark figure—still silhouetted by night—runs past the camera, temporally engulfing the frame in black. The sequence is executed in one take, and it’s a haunting way to begin a motion picture.

Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) is a hermit and has been for 40 years. He’s an irritable mountain man who lives just outside of a Tennessee town, a place where he’s been inserted into the local folklore. A quasi-Boo Radley, we see Felix change his sign from “No Trespassing” to “No Damn Trespassing” in the opening sequence after a few young boys create some mischief on his property.

There’s a reason for this bitterness, and scooping it out of Felix is the film’s main duty—Felix hasn’t been away from civilization for 40 years without reason. When he decides to throw his own funeral party—whilst still being alive—Felix calls on Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), owner of the local funeral parlor. Quinn and his employee Buddy (Lucas Black) are bowled over by the idea, but business has been slow. Why would Felix want to attend his own funeral? What is it he needs to get off his chest?

The cast is wonderful, including Sissy Spacek as Mattie Darrow, a woman who’s loved Felix for a long time. Bill Murray is humorous as Quinn, but he’s just as effective in his dramatic scenes. Quinn’s character is handled gently. Director Aaron Schneider throws a veil over Quinn’s morality, and Murray is up to the task of conveying this ambiguity.

In the end, though, this is Duvall’s film. This performance deserves to be looked at come Oscar season. Duvall improvises his way through the screenplay, adding grunts, mumbles, and heavy breaths to his dialogue. This not only enhances the script’s realism but also adds humanism to Felix’s character—the same sort of humanism I mentioned in The Wind That Shakes The Barley. As he sweet-talks Mattie during a stroll in the forest, we glow from within; as he stands before his fellow townspeople and wrestles with his past, we disintegrate from within. It’s pure. It's genuine.

Get Low is aurally pleasant, saturated with the sounds of crackling fireplaces, creaking timber, and crunching leaves. The soundtrack is successful at setting the 1930’s scene, implementing equal parts big band and rustic folk music. The only quarrel I have with the soundtrack is with the hokey ballad played during the film’s conclusion.

Regarding the conclusion: there seems to be two possible endings to the film. One is true, melancholic, and beautiful; the scene that follows it—the actual ending with the melodramatic ballad—is one last unnecessary attempt to squeeze our tear glands, and it closes the book too tightly. I wish the film would’ve ended with this first sequence, in which Duvall is the central and final image.

Even with this needless ending, Get Low is a quiet Sunday morning of a film. Its politely funny—funnier than you'd think—while Its heart is found in gentle conversation and inner pathos. Schneider creates painterly images that thrive on organic colors and 1930’s nostalgia to match this mood. The story steers clear of clichés when it could so easily embrace them. From the group of films I’ve seen, Get Low is one of the best of the festival.