Get Low has an original premise based on a true story. Back in 1938 in Tennessee, a hermit, an old codger of sorts, decides to hold a funeral for himself while he's still alive. The hermit's motive for throwing the funeral is to finally hear all the bad things the townspeople have been saying about him, behind his back for years.
In the movie, the hermit is Felix Bush played by Robert Duvall. He's got a long beard and has numerous 'no trespassing' signs posted at the entrance to his property. When he strolls into town, he's always armed with a shotgun. A young bully tries to taunt Felix but he turns the tables on him by knocking him out. And oh yes—Felix has a dark secret that has been the source of internal torment since he was a young man.
Felix ends up conscripting funeral director, Frank Quinn, played by a rather tame Bill Murray, to organize the funeral party. He's got a young assistant, Buddy, who ends up looking after Felix. The plot complications involve Felix changing his mind about the funeral plans. At one point he calls the funeral off; later he nixes the idea of allowing the townspeople to bad mouth him at the funeral. Finally he decides to raffle off his property upon his death—the townspeople will pay a small fee and one lucky winner will be chosen at the festivities.
The problem with Get Low is that the main character never grows. Throughout the film, Duvall plays a man who's perennially mad at himself. There's a lot of time spent building up to Felix's big confession at the funeral. First, all we get are many hints. In Felix's heated confrontation with Mattie (Sissy Spacek), we learn she blames him for something he did involving her sister (there's a weak attempt at comedy when Felix has a heart attack and Mattie suddenly has to pull back walking out on him, instead, ending up having to attend to him as he's passed out on the floor). There's also the Reverend Charlie Jackson, a black preacher, who knows all about Felix's dark past, but won't tell (I wondered how there was not one racist comment directed toward the good Reverend, since this was supposed to be the Jim Crow South, during the 30s).
The entire Get Low storyline is predicated on Felix's confession at the funeral. Unfortunately, the confession proves much more sentimental than surprising. It seems that Felix got himself involved with Mattie's sister. One night he goes over to see her and discovers that the husband had attacked her with a hammer, knocking her out. The husband knocks over a lamp starting a fire, and Felix is unable to save the woman he loves. Just as we saw in the beginning of the film, Felix must jump out of the burning house and he's the only one to survive.
Felix's confession is cathartic and the tears flow. He's finally gotten it off his chest. Nonetheless, Felix's guilt trip feels misplaced. After all, it wasn't Felix who was actually responsible for his lover's death. Nonetheless, he beats himself up for years over the event. For a good part of the movie, Felix's histrionics are played out ad infinitum—yes we get the fact that he feels bad about what happened. But when the beans are finally spilled at the end, we feel cheated since something much more dramatic is expected.
Even Bill Murray disappoints here. Where was the irascible, con man when we needed him? Instead, Murray's Quinn opts out as a good guy who doesn't want to fleece anyone and ends up lending a helping hand to anyone he can.
If there's anything positive here, it's mostly in the set design and music. Like 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Get Low' evokes the bygone era of the Great Depression and scores points mainly for atmosphere.
Strip away all the histrionics and one finds that Get Low is simply about a depressed guy who finally feels better after getting something off his chest that he's bottled up for years. Where's the drama in that? Mr. Duvall did not get the Oscar nomination he was looking for and rightly so. Given the long, awkward setup, a sentimental ending is the only place 'Get Low' can go!
In the movie, the hermit is Felix Bush played by Robert Duvall. He's got a long beard and has numerous 'no trespassing' signs posted at the entrance to his property. When he strolls into town, he's always armed with a shotgun. A young bully tries to taunt Felix but he turns the tables on him by knocking him out. And oh yes—Felix has a dark secret that has been the source of internal torment since he was a young man.
Felix ends up conscripting funeral director, Frank Quinn, played by a rather tame Bill Murray, to organize the funeral party. He's got a young assistant, Buddy, who ends up looking after Felix. The plot complications involve Felix changing his mind about the funeral plans. At one point he calls the funeral off; later he nixes the idea of allowing the townspeople to bad mouth him at the funeral. Finally he decides to raffle off his property upon his death—the townspeople will pay a small fee and one lucky winner will be chosen at the festivities.
The problem with Get Low is that the main character never grows. Throughout the film, Duvall plays a man who's perennially mad at himself. There's a lot of time spent building up to Felix's big confession at the funeral. First, all we get are many hints. In Felix's heated confrontation with Mattie (Sissy Spacek), we learn she blames him for something he did involving her sister (there's a weak attempt at comedy when Felix has a heart attack and Mattie suddenly has to pull back walking out on him, instead, ending up having to attend to him as he's passed out on the floor). There's also the Reverend Charlie Jackson, a black preacher, who knows all about Felix's dark past, but won't tell (I wondered how there was not one racist comment directed toward the good Reverend, since this was supposed to be the Jim Crow South, during the 30s).
The entire Get Low storyline is predicated on Felix's confession at the funeral. Unfortunately, the confession proves much more sentimental than surprising. It seems that Felix got himself involved with Mattie's sister. One night he goes over to see her and discovers that the husband had attacked her with a hammer, knocking her out. The husband knocks over a lamp starting a fire, and Felix is unable to save the woman he loves. Just as we saw in the beginning of the film, Felix must jump out of the burning house and he's the only one to survive.
Felix's confession is cathartic and the tears flow. He's finally gotten it off his chest. Nonetheless, Felix's guilt trip feels misplaced. After all, it wasn't Felix who was actually responsible for his lover's death. Nonetheless, he beats himself up for years over the event. For a good part of the movie, Felix's histrionics are played out ad infinitum—yes we get the fact that he feels bad about what happened. But when the beans are finally spilled at the end, we feel cheated since something much more dramatic is expected.
Even Bill Murray disappoints here. Where was the irascible, con man when we needed him? Instead, Murray's Quinn opts out as a good guy who doesn't want to fleece anyone and ends up lending a helping hand to anyone he can.
If there's anything positive here, it's mostly in the set design and music. Like 'Bonnie and Clyde', 'Get Low' evokes the bygone era of the Great Depression and scores points mainly for atmosphere.
Strip away all the histrionics and one finds that Get Low is simply about a depressed guy who finally feels better after getting something off his chest that he's bottled up for years. Where's the drama in that? Mr. Duvall did not get the Oscar nomination he was looking for and rightly so. Given the long, awkward setup, a sentimental ending is the only place 'Get Low' can go!