A Scientist at the Movies Reviews by Greg Paris

The Evaluation System Reviews by Title Reviews by Date

Reviews from Video Reviews of the Classics Personal Background

Title: Get Low

Date Viewed: 8/28/10

Details:

Robert Duvall (Felix Bush)

Sissy Spacek

Bill Murray

Lucas Black

Bill Cobbs

Gerald McRaney

Director: Aaron Schneider

Score: +

The Review: Someplace where Illinois is north, and sometime when a tailored suit cost less than $30, lived a crusty old hermit who looked a lot like Robert Duvall on a bad hair day. With a mysterious past and 40 years of living alone, Felix Bush decides to throw himself a funeral party, while he's still alive -- inviting anyone who has a story to tell of him, and offering to tell his own story in return.

Such is the general plot of this small and engaging film, apparently based on real events in Appalachia from sometime between the wars. It is a great character study for Duvall -- he plays it to the hilt, and clearly enjoys it. What we at first see as the insistence of a bellicose, back-country bumpkin about not being bothered (with some amusing "no trespassing" signs) slowly transforms into a complex, articulate and fascinating personality, a loner with good reasons for his behavior, and (as it turns out) much to atone for.

He's not alone -- there's Sissy Spacek in a rare movie role as a old friend from his past, Bill Murray as the tippling funeral director enlisted to stage-manage this festival, Lucas Black as Murray's minor-domo and the driving force behind the entire enterprise, and an amusing Bill Cobbs as the preacher encouraged to chair the fest -- who has his own past with the recluse. It's a great ensemble cast, and they work well together.

Recommended.

(29-Aug-10)

Back to the chronological list of reviews