'Get Low' aims high
Robert Duvall’s latest film breathes new life into an odd old story
By Carl Kozlowski 08/05/2010
It’s hard to really notice eccentrics in a city the size of Los Angeles, where millions of people tend to mesh as they rush past each other. But in rural America, town oddballs still stand out, whether they’re lovably kooky, or — as is the case in the richly textured and highly entertaining new film “Get Low” — they’re seemingly antisocial recluses with an array of bad social skills.
Starring Robert Duvall in one of his best and most colorful performances, “Get Low” is a character-based dramedy that knows when to mine the comic gold found in exchanges between Duvall and co-star Bill Murray, and when to pull back and allow a powerful yet quiet and deeply human story grab hold.
The film, based on an improbable yet true Depression-era story, follows Duvall as Appalachian hermit Felix “Bush” Brazeale, who embarks on a highly unusual quest to attend his own funeral.
Felix wants to be alive and hearing what others say about him, and at first he thinks he can just show up at the town’s white and black churches with a wad of money and buy himself a perfect, custom-made service. However, all of the preachers tell him that he’s got to make personal peace with God and can’t just buy passage to heaven.
Yet Felix has never been ready to crack and admit just what happened on a long-ago night when his involvement in an illicit love triangle spawned unintended but nevertheless deadly consequences. So he hires subtly slimy and fast-talking funeral parlor owner Frank Quinn (Murray) to create the service for him and decides that the big event will be the perfect time for him to give the big reveal to everyone and fix his reputation before he dies.
There are plenty of twists from there, but they’re all handled in a realistic, matter-of-fact manner, rather than the often-brash tones of most current American comedies. Duvall is a marvel to watch, both when sporting a crazy-man beard while being a mean SOB in the first part of the film, and as he slowly tries to become a nicer person while rekindling an old flame, played by Sissy Spacek.
Murray nearly steals the show, however, with his best role since the Wes Anderson 1999 cult classic “Rushmore.” His classic rat-a-tat patter is as timeless as his ability to convey smugness with just a roll of his eyes or a flick of his jaw. And Spacek makes a welcome return to the screen, settling nicely into her role as a Southern widow learning to trust and love again.
But perhaps the best part of “Get Low” is its authentic period Appalachian music score by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (an Oscar-winner for “Finding Neverland”) and the luminous cinematography of David Boyd. Brought together by a constantly fresh and inventive script by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell, and the surprisingly assured direction of first-time feature director Aaron Schneider, “Get Low” could very well end up high on next year’s Oscar nomination lists.
“Get Low” opens Friday at the Laemmle Playhouse 7, 673 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena. Call (626) 844-6500.
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