GET LOW
United States. 2010. Directed by Aaron Schneider. (100 mins.) Rated PG-13.

“Reclusive Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) is an object of fascination and wild rumors in his small, Depression era Southern town, a hermit suspected of extravagantly evil deeds. In director Aaron Schneider's funny, touching debut GET LOW, as Bush nears the end of his life, his decision to set the record straight with a ‘living funeral,’ roils the town and old ghosts even as it forces him out of his self-imposed isolation. A deft blend of drama, comedy, mystery, and a touch of romance, this self-financed indie that received the benediction of the Sundance Film Festival as one of its Premieres selections will appeal strongly to a mature audience drawn to robust characters, dry wit, and great performances. A bad night inspires Bush to ‘get low’ and account for his life and the event that sent him into exile in the woods. The way he plans to do that is with a kind of living wake where all are invited to share their stories of the old man with the wild hair and beard and fearsome reputation. With a dearth of actual death in the area, undertaker Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) welcomes the business, but leaves the details to his young, far more sincere associate, Buddy (Lucas Black, SLING BLADE). Bush's errand in town also brings him face to face with the widow Maddie Darrow (Sissy Spacek), a woman from his past who might be the only person in town able to separate Bush's life from his legend. Screenwriters Chris Provenzano (TV’s Mad Men) and C. Gaby Mitchell BLOOD DIAMOND) take their inspiration for their story from the life of Felix ‘Bush’ Breazeale, who really did hold a living funeral in 1938 and like the Bush of this tale, did sell lottery tickets with his land as the prize as an incentive to get people to attend. From those bare bones, the writers have fashioned a complex, character-driven yarn in which the truth of Bush's life and just what it is he has been running from is gradually revealed, and in which a man who has been alone for so long suddenly finds himself drawn back into human company. GET LOW builds to a moving climax, but it is never maudlin as the comic elements serve to keep the movie buoyant. It is also an actor's clinic. The entire ensemble is strong with Murray and Black especially impressive in their support of Duvall and Schneider eloquently captures the relaxed rhythms of small-town life. This is not a big film, but is one with a very big heart.” – Pam Grady, Box Office Magazine

WINTER'S BONE
United States. 2010. Directed by Debra Granik. (100 mins.) Rated R.

“Every so often a film gets under our skin with its haunting authenticity, reinforcing our faith in the wonderfully transporting power of cinematic storytelling. WINTER’S BONE is unquestionably that film. With this powerful, impeccably told story, co-writer/director Debra Granik has established herself as a supremely talented filmmaker. Just as impressive as Granik's sure-handed direction is the subtle and heart-wrenching performance of the film's star, Jennifer Lawrence. Lawrence, 19, already deserves an Oscar nomination for her role as Ree, a teenage girl forced prematurely into adulthood by extreme circumstances. It seems wrong to reveal too much of the plot since the film's potency lies in watching it unspool convincingly but without predictability, in an ominous, quasi-documentary style. In her low-budget adaptation of Daniel Woodrell's novel, Granik delves with fascinating specificity into a world not seen in movies. We've seen backwoods sagas, we've seen outlaws and drug dealers, we've seen stories about absentee parents and teens thrust into extraordinary situations. But we've never seen anything like this blend of austere, regional tale and riveting thriller. It's a suspenseful drama that is also an ethnographic portrait of a place, time and people. Ree is a tough-minded 17-year-old, fiercely protective of her siblings and her drug-addled mother. They live in a ramshackle house in Missouri, surrounded by acres of scrubby forest, with farm animals and stray dogs as companions for the children, who have little more than a weathered trampoline and broken toys to keep them amused. Ree's father has been in prison, but the family has somehow eked out an existence. When Ree learns that her father has put up the house for bond and jumped bail, she is hellbent on finding him. She will move mountains to keep her family intact. Speaking of mountains, Ree's journey takes perilous turns throughout this remote Ozarks community. She is forced to appeal to distant relatives who make the nasty hillbillies in DELIVERANCE look like welcoming, gentle souls. The film sidesteps sentimentality and manipulation, making it all the more enthralling and poignant. Ree's Uncle Teardrop (a brilliantly off-kilter John Hawkes) initially comes off like a meth-head. But he is more complex than he appears. WINTER’S BONE is the year's best drama thus far. Every word spoken is pitch-perfect, and some utterances even make raw poetry. Film fans will lose out on a remarkable experience if they miss this study of a character whose resilience, despite all odds, is deeply moving.” – Claudia Puig, USA Today

THE KIDS
ARE ALL RIGHT
United States. 2010. Directed by Lisa Cholodenko. (106 mins.) Rated R.

“One of the best scenes of any film this year takes place in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT. The setting is a small dinner party at which Annette Bening, as a lesbian with a longtime partner (Julianne Moore), seems on the verge of some kind of breakdown. The scene resonates so well because it presents, with accuracy and subtlety, something that we've all experienced, but that is rarely depicted onscreen. This is a Lisa Cholodenko film, and the scene is an example of the rich and psychologically truthful work that this director does without being flashy and calling attention to it. Cholodenko has made two previous features that have had an outsize influence despite their low budgets. Her first, HIGH ART, redefined Ally Sheedy and put Radha Mitchell and Patricia Clarkson on the map. Her second, LAUREL CANYON, provided Frances McDormand with her most important showcase since FARGO. But THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT is a step up, not just into bigger budgets and bigger stars but also into a more fully realized filmmaking. Like her other movies, this one has vivid characters and strong performances and flows like a slice of life set in an appealing, interesting world. Read More...

THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE
Sweden. 2010. Directed by Daniel Alfredson. (129 mins.) Not Rated.

"Ordinarily, a film that was made in Sweden and is being released in the United States by a tiny indie distributor would barely merit a footnote on the overcrowded summer movie calendar. But THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE,  the second film in director Daniel Alfredson and screenwriter Jonas Frykberg's Millennium trilogy (adapted, of course, from Stieg Larsson's best-selling thrillers), is a peculiar exception. Like its predecessor, THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO, this is likely to be one of 2010's top-grossing foreign-language films -- and that's without reaching anywhere near the total audience of Larsson's novels. Exonerated of the libel charges that sent him to prison in TATTOO, Blomkvist is back at the helm of Millennium, his muckraking magazine, which is about to publish a young journalist's explosive exposé of a sex-trafficking ring that implicates many of Sweden's top political, business and law enforcement figures. Read More...