A Reel Review: GET LOW

Eleven years after his last Oscar nomination, Robert Duvall immerses himself into character in GET LOW. A film that is a finely crafted story of grief and absolution. It is a pleasantly entertaining film set in a cheerless and nearly depressing atmosphere, which draws career-best performances out of everyone involved.

Felix (Duvall) is a hermit in self-exile for the past 40 years. Being forced to face his past, he seeks to hold a living funeral for himself, where the townsfolk can tell all the stories they want about him in his presence. Felix employs funeral parlor partners Frank (Bill Murray) and Buddy (Lucas Black). Along the way, Felix comes around to face his past pains, involving his old friend and lover Mattie (Sissy Spacek).

GET LOW should be a sad film, as its centerpiece is a broken old man haunted by his past, living alone for 40 years to punish himself. It is Felix’s sad story, surrounded by grief and death…but a funny thing happens along the way to the funeral: the film is nearly a laugh a minute. The interactions between poor Felix and car-salesman-like Frank keep things light and extremely interesting. For good measure, Buddy’s character is thrown in as the young up-and-comer, the character with his life ahead of him, to provide balance to end-of-the-line Felix. The narrative never fails to dig into Felix’s character, revealing his past and soul in satisfying pieces.

Duvall turns in what should be considered to be one of his finest works. He clearly digs in deeply, and his facial expressions alone are convincing. Murray is perfectly cast as a funeral director just looking to make a buck, and it doesn’t take long for the viewer to forget that it’s Pete Venkman up there. Spacek and Black have the most interaction with Duvall, and it pays off for the both of them.

Set in the back woods of Tennessee in the 1920’s, the set direction and atmosphere is superb; it is a rich lived-in look with perfect lighting that makes the viewer nearly able to smell the wood fires and autumn leaves.

The finale is a powerful punch, perfectly executed by director Aaron Schneider by way of pitch-perfect editing coupled with Duvall’s painful and tearful performance. GET LOW not only stays afloat by way of great acting, but solid filmmaking all around.

BOTTOM LINE: See it.