Greetings again from the darkness. Finally catching up with this one after it received such critical raves on the festival circuit last year. It's one of those films that cause so many "normal" movie goers to question the tastes of critics. It certainly has the look and feel of a terrific independent art-house film, but as they say, looks can be deceiving.
The cast is outstanding and play off each other and the setting exceedingly well. Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Ben Foster and Keith Carradine are a pleasure to watch ... they make it easy to KNOW these characters. Daniel Hart's score is the perfect balance of haunting and complimentary - understated at its best. The most exceptional thing of all is the cinematography of Bradford Young. The look of the film is right there with the best of Terrence Malick ... and that amplifies the film's biggest problem. The story is highly recollective of Malick's Badlands, and that's where the shortcomings jump out. There is just not much substance to this story.
Writer/director David Lowery is a definite talent, but his dependency on look and feel prevent this one from reaching greatness. We recognize immediately that this can't end well. The only question is how badly will it get for each of the main characters. Crime may not pay, but some criminals just seem to keep paying ... and drag down others with them. For those that enjoy the indies, this is one to catch up with ... and filmmaker David Lowery's best work is still ahead of him.
The cast is outstanding and play off each other and the setting exceedingly well. Casey Affleck, Rooney Mara, Ben Foster and Keith Carradine are a pleasure to watch ... they make it easy to KNOW these characters. Daniel Hart's score is the perfect balance of haunting and complimentary - understated at its best. The most exceptional thing of all is the cinematography of Bradford Young. The look of the film is right there with the best of Terrence Malick ... and that amplifies the film's biggest problem. The story is highly recollective of Malick's Badlands, and that's where the shortcomings jump out. There is just not much substance to this story.
Writer/director David Lowery is a definite talent, but his dependency on look and feel prevent this one from reaching greatness. We recognize immediately that this can't end well. The only question is how badly will it get for each of the main characters. Crime may not pay, but some criminals just seem to keep paying ... and drag down others with them. For those that enjoy the indies, this is one to catch up with ... and filmmaker David Lowery's best work is still ahead of him.