Get Low (2009)

If you enjoy Depression era backwoods humor, you will most likely love this movie. If you appreciate good storytelling, I'm sure you will include this among your recent favorites. It is actually a movie about storytelling, sort of.

Robert Duvall and Bill Murray are prefect in their roles; a Tennesee hermit with 40-year-old secrets and a recently relocated Chicago hustler. They each have what the other wants and must bend a little to meet in the middle.

Sissy Spacek is dear as a quiet widow who returns to the old home town. Bill Cobbs knows more about Duvall's flawed character than most but is not about selling redemption. Lucas Black is the one who works to bring them all together.

Somewhere along the lines of Oh Brother Where Art Thou, this is a story of forgiveness. Everyone wants it, and everyone has some to give. No spoilers here, but we have to forgive ourselves somewhere down the line.

Watch this with someone who thinks the know all about that crazy old neighbor down the road.

Crazy Heart

So many things going on during this movie, taken separately are very good, but together make a memorable movie. The story is not exactly new. Producer and co-star Robert Duvall played a similar character with somewhat similar results a few years ago. This effort is much better.

Here are some things I'm crazy about when it comes to this movie:

The music - well deserving of the Oscar.
The acting - Jeff Bridges certainly earned his too, and Maggie Gyllenhaal deserved her nomination.
The story - good things CAN happen to bad people.
The scenes - what can I say, I like dives.
The unexpected things - like the humble abode our fading country star calls home in Houston.
The photography - this movie makes the dreariest places look pretty good.

Watch this movie with someone who can enjoy all the verses.

We Own the Night

Please tell me Joaquin Phoenix (Parenthood, Gladiator, and Walk the Line) is not the new Richard Burton. Dark. Brooding. Playing primarily one type of character. I would like to see more from him.

I know Mark Wahlberg (Perfect Storm, Four Brothers, and The Departed) can play more that just tough guys. Please tell me he is not the new Kirk Douglas. Way too good-looking to play "normal" guys, way too smart to play just one type of role.

Had thus movie starred Richard Burton and Kirk Douglas way back when, it would have been very little different. Some of you may see that as a good thing, and some may say that would be a bad thing. I see it as a good thing. A good story is a good story regardless of who plays the roles. But, casting the wrong people can ruin a good story. In this case, the two big box-office names were brought in and given Producer status in order lend their names to the project (my assumptions and opinions only). But they do make a good story more watchable. But they do not make it a great story.

Robert Duvall (The Great Santini, Colors, and Falling Down) is the glue that keeps this cast together like the old pro he is. The other two play his sons. Yes, be prepared to suspend belief. Though they choose different life-styles, their father is the one constant in their lives. And it is ultimately the father that units the boys again with a single purpose.

I think the thing I liked best about this movie was that the things I expected to happen never did, and the things I did not expect, kept happening. So, either I'm getting worse at guessing, or writers are getting more clever. Hopefully for all of us it is the latter.

Watch this movie with a sibling you've always secretly admired.

The Natural

This is on my top 10 list of favorite movies.

Master story teller and Director Barry Levinson (High Anxiety, Good Morning Vietnam, and Rain Man) gives us a tender family drama mixed with my old redemption factor. He uses larger than life characters to get it done, and delivers us a classic, even for a sports movie. I once met Mr. Levinson in the Laguna Beach Albertsons. As we looked at each other over one of the produce tables, all I could say to him was "Damn fine story-telling. Thank you." He seemed to appreciate my comment, but he has not done anything I like since then. Oh well.

Robert Redford (too many great ones to list here) plays a young AND old baseball player who is haunted as much by his past as he is by the present. Redford is such a stud, he gets not one, but two leading ladies in this film. One good, one bad. Glenn Close (Jagged Edge, Fatal Attraction, and Mel Gibson's Hamlet to list but a few) is as close to angelic as she is likely to be on screen. Kim Basinger (a Bond girl in Connery's final 007 film, 9 1/2 weeks, and Batman) is as deliciously sultry as you'd want in this flawed character role.

Wilford Brimley (Absence of Malice, the Cocoon series, and The Firm) is as enjoyable as Tom Hanks in the role of a broken down, everything to lose, general manager of a baseball team. Richard Farnsworth (Tom Horn, The Grey Fox, and Anne of Green Gables) is basically himself as Brimley's alter-ego assistant manager.

Robert Duvall (M*A*S*H the movie not the series, the Godfather series, Apocalypse Now and too many more to mention) is the only common thread between Redford's past and present, he just does not know it.

If you skipped this movie because it was a sports movie, or about baseball, I recommend watching it for the non-sports themes. Yes, it is set around baseball, but it is not about baseball. It is about fitting into the shoes one is wearing. It is about owning up to who we are.

Memorable moments abound in this well scripted journey. It was nominated for Best Cinematography, Best Art Direction, Best Score, and Glenn Close was nominated for Best Supporting Actress. How could that happen in a sports movie?

Watch it with someone who will go out and play catch with you afterwards.

Secondhand Lions

Released in 2003, Second Hand Lions had almost no publicity, and was in theaters for only a couple months. This is a shame, and the same is on the viewing public. This is a very fun story, believe it or not, very well told.

And come on, look at the cast: Haley Joel Osment (Forrest Gump, Sixth Sense, and Pay it Forward to name a few good ones), Michael Caine (The Man Who Would be King, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, and Cider House Rules as if I could pick from all his work), and Robert Duvall (MASH, The Godfather series, and The Natural amongst his best work), bring huge amounts of talent to this story. And from the looks of it, they had way too much fun telling it too.

If that is not enough to coax you into a peek, please consider that Kyra Sedgwick and Josh Lucas lead a very strong supporting cast.

This is very much a story about another story. If you grew up with an older family member who loved telling stories which you were not sure to believe or not, this story will bring back a few memories. It may even lead you to rethink a few of your conclusions.

If you are from Texas, or know anything about folks who live there, you'll appreciate that this story is actually totally believable.

Watch it with someone who has a very good imagination.