Robert Duvall delivers a knockout performance in this uniquely American folktale set in 1930s Tennessee. For 40 years, Felix Bush (Duvall) has been an angry, eccentric backwoods hermit, living in a hand-hewn cabin with a shotgun at his side and only his beloved mule as company. Realizing that he's become a local legend who's whispered about among the curious townsfolk, Felix decides he'd like to know—in advance—what people will say about him after he dies. So he contacts mortician Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) and Quinn's eager young assistant, Buddy (Lucas Black), expressing his bizarre wish to “get low” and hold a mock “living funeral” to which all those who have ever heard a story about him are invited as long as they're willing to tell the tale in public. Wily Felix also proposes selling raffle tickets for his 300 acres of virgin timberland. But what no one—except widowed Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek) and Rev. Charlie Jackson (Bill Cobbs)—realizes is that Felix's conscience is burdened with a shameful secret and he's seeking redemption. Based on a true story, director Aaron Schneider's intriguing, somewhat surreal drama initially unfolds at a meandering pace, but ultimately turns into a slyly powerful fable that benefits from an excellent ensemble cast. Highly recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include audio commentary (with costars Robert Duvall and Sissy Spacek, director Aaron Schneider, and producer Dean Zanuck), a “Getting Low: Getting Into Character” featurette (10 min.), a cast and crew Q&A segment (10 min.), the behind-the-scenes featurette “The Deep South: Buried Secrets” (8 min.), “A Screenwriter's Point of View” featuring C. Gaby Mitchell (5 min.), an “On the Red Carpet” premiere featurette (5 min.), and trailers. Exclusive to the Blu-ray release is the BD-Live function. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a winning film.] (S. Granger)
Get Low
Sony, 103 min., PG-13, DVD: $28.95, Blu-ray: $38.95, Feb. 22 Volume 26, Issue 1
Get Low
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