I was bit worried going into Aaron Schneider's Get Low, fearing that an onslaught of backwoods schmaltz and old-age remorse would be in order, but for the most part it's a nice, quaint little character piece - not as insufferable as Guy Lodge says and not nearly as stirring as Rex Reed believes.A film like Get Low is amiable, sweet and gentle and pretty hard to get riled up about either way. It's a modest, nicely-shot period film about forgiveness and tying up loose ends before we go, and despite an inevitably gooey confessional scene, it handles its subject with minimal syrup and butter - or at least less so than expected.
What the film's success boils down to is Robert Duvall's boffo performance as the mysterious hermit Felix, a man confined to his remote home by his past and conveniently gentler than his reputation. As far as male performances go this year, it's hard to find one better, even if the film around it certainly has room for improvement. [B-]
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I liked this flick a bit more than you did, perhaps because I was drawn in a bit deeper by technique (loved the way it was shot, and that low evocative score that comes and goes).
ReplyDeleteYou're bang-on about Duvall. If we don't hear his name get mentioned come Oscar time, I for one will be crying "Scandal".
I think his name will certainly be mentioned as he's the clear front-runner at this point to take Best Actor but obviously there's a long way to go.
ReplyDeleteOutside of the opening shot (which was pretty great) I wasn't drawn in by technique too much. It's definitely nice looking, though.