***1/2 (three and a half stars)
What an acting treasure Robert Duvall is! Certainly, this is not revelatory news to anyone reading this review but just the same, it is a cinematic fact that can always stand to use some form of reminding.
Yes, we are more than aware of his frequent smaller roles, where he simultaneously combines strands of gravitas and folksiness, always grounding his character in a deeper reality which elevates the entire film through his sheer presence. And yes, there is also his classic “That smell! That gasoline smell! It smells like…victory!” sequence from Francis Ford Coppola’s iconic “Apocalypse Now” (1979); a moment that has firmly cemented itself into movie history.
Yet, for all of his glorious talent, skill and critical acclaim, he doesn’t seem to be spoken about in quite the same adoring fashion as other contemporary and long standing acting giants like Robert DeNiro or Meryl Streep, for instance. Just looking at Academy Awards records of accomplishment, Duvall has been nominated for six Oscars, having only won once for his leading role in Director Bruce Beresford’s “Tender Mercies” (1983)—certainly no small feat. However, Streep, on the other hand, has been nominated 16 times (!) and has won twice for “Kramer Vs. Kramer” (1979) and “Sophie’s Choice” (1982). While all three actors have continued to work very steadily and frequently, it is also quite the rarity in current cinema to witness Duvall in a complete, start-to-finish leading performance where we can all bask in a level of art that so many current actors would kill for. Dear readers, I urge you to wait no further and head to your local theater to see Director Aaron Schneider’s elegantly strong debut Directorial feature, “Get Low,” a gracefully dark rustic tale set in rural Tennessee during the 1930’s.
Duvall stars as Felix Bush, the picture of extreme dilapidation and dishevelment. Bush is a shotgun wielding, self-imposed exile leading a misanthropic hermetic existence on the outskirts of a small Tennessee town, where he has been the subject of one mysteriously grim tall tale after another for 40 years. Bush, who appears much like the horrific illustrated madman on the cover of Jethro Tull’s “Aqualung” album cover, is the proverbial “scary old man” at the end of the road. The one who lives in a seemingly creepy ramshackle house, with the sort of windows that young boys are tempted to break, while simultaneously fearing and hoping to catch a glimpse of the foreboding figure who has certainly haunted their dreams. Bush prowls his homestead and nearby town like a malevolent specter, daring anyone to make contact and will indeed lash out if necessary.
Near the start of the film, local Reverend Gus Horton (Gerald McRaney) appears on Bush’s property to inform him of the passing of an old acquaintance. With yet one more reminder of his own impeding mortality gravely staring him down, he arrives at an unusual idea designed to allow himself the opportunity to alleviate his soul from the hefty, burdenous secret that has plagued him for most of his adult life. Felix Bush desires to utilize his sizable life savings to throw himself a funeral and accompanying party, while he is still alive, an event designed to allow the townspeople to speak for him by recalling all of the stories they had ever heard about him.
Enter Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), a Chicago transplant and former car salesman who currently manages and operates a failing funeral home with his young partner Buddy (Lucas Black). Upon learning about Bush’s desires, both men accost Bush with the idea of assisting him attain his eccentric (and some would say, ghoulish) goals. In the mind of Quinn, it is a win-win situation, as the highly publicized event will exist as a lucrative business deal, therefore saving the funeral home from financial ruin, while Bush obtains the funeral of his wishes.
As for Buddy, he is initially trepidatious to the venture as he feels the subject of a funeral demands a certain respect and reverence that cannot be found at an event, which may potentially play more as a carnival. Yet throughout the film, we witness the tentative building of a trusting relationship between himself and Bush. It is a relationship that carries a profound weight as we see the young man, husband and new Father at the start of his adult life discovering common ground with an embittered man at the conclusion of his life. It is an elegant meeting of the minds that sits comfortably at the core of this equally elegant film.
I will inform you right away that there is nothing that could be described as “earth-shattering” in “Get Low.” There are no hyperbolic, prefabricated dramatic moments anywhere. And the secret that has haunted Felix Bush for 40 years will not arrive as a surprise to anyone watching. But, that lack of heightened drama is not a hindrance to this film in the least as it is a remarkable character study, gentle comedy of manners and testament to the act of how we all attempt to place our own houses in order as we age. “Get Low” is a quiet, meditative film where not much actually happens yet Schneider skillfully constructs a slightly hushed environment where pathos and wit easily walk together in a direct, down-to-Earth manner. Unlike Writer/Director Noah Baumbach’s “Greenberg” from this Spring, another quiet, meditative independent feature where not much actually happens, “Get Low” easily sidesteps becoming lost in its own sense of inertia. It is also surprising that this film, which is centered around a highly peculiar situation, does not lose itself in the forest of the dangerously self-conscious quirkiness that so often derails independent feature films. There is somewhat of a tightrope-balancing act on display and Schneider makes it all look effortless.
Every single performance in “Get Low,” from leading players to those with only a few lines are uniformly terrific. You will receive excellent supporting work from Sissy Spacek as Bush’s one-time flame from long ago. The great character actor Bill Cobbs slyly portrays a Pastor and one of Bush’s closest friends from his past. Lucas Black more than carries his weight in his sizable and crucial role as Buddy. And the pleasure of seeing Bill Murray is undeniable. Murray once again continues to greatly impress with a performance that is supremely relaxed, confident, rascally, wily and with a dash of the melancholy that he has perfected in his more recent film roles.
Now I return to the great Robert Duvall who gives a performance that is nothing less than a Master Class in acting and should be required viewing for all actors in training. It never calls attention to itself with unnecessary showiness. There is never a false moment on display and you will never see the acting. To my eyes, Duvall even transcends “acting” by achieving and delivering something that could be regarded as an elevated state of being. Every single word that leaves his mouth, every physical motion, every guttural utterance, however grand or subtle, feels so completely lived in. It is as if every moment is as natural as breathing and the cameras just happened to be present to capture it.
While Duvall has an excellent screenplay written by C. Gaby Mitchell and Chris Provenzano as a launching point, it is a marvel to be as consistently surprised as the film’s other characters when more seemingly contradictory elements of Bush’s personality and character are revealed. His ability to be a gracious host and cook, for instance, is a moment of unexpected disarmament for Buddy as well as the audience. We also learn of Felix Bush’s exceedingly gifted carpentry skills. Most importantly, we learn of his romanticism and feel his endless heartache. All of these, plus other qualities, deflect and challenge his fearsome legacy thereby forcing the townspeople to not only re-evaluate him but to also take stock in the dangers of the very perceptions and prejudices they may place upon others and as well as the ones other people may place upon them. Duvall always finds the fear, weakness and tenderness buried so deeply inside the gruffness, insolence and rage and vice versa, while also plumbing fine, sharply presented comedy as well.
Duvall’s masterstroke arrives at the funeral party, where he addresses the town and publicly reveals his secret. It is a lengthy sequence and it is essentially a monologue in close-up. This sequence, in lesser hands, would have been the shameless “Gimmie my Oscar!!” moment but again, Duvall evades all acting traps and pitfalls and exudes something I can only recognize as…the truth. In just several minutes, Duvall gives us the full life of Felix Bush, with all aspects of his remorse, regrets, afflictions and failings. His need to have someone speak for him at his funeral is a desperate one; a need of such extremity yet buried underneath his glowering demeanor.
Through the experience of “Get Low,” we see the slow, heavy steps Bush takes towards his epiphany and his lesson learned becomes our lesson to ponder and ultimately, to heed. The process of redemption is one that must be painfully earned, he slowly discovers. That in order to be completely freed, he must be able to speak for himself. These are weighty concepts to be sure for what is essentially a genteel comedy, yet Duvall and the film as a whole never becomes a ponderous parable. The film and Duvall glide under your skin with ease and before you have even realized it, you have been overtaken with its power. This sequence in particular, is soul stirring in the best possible way and I cannot think of another actor that could have pulled it off as well.
“Get Low” is yet another rarity in our increasingly shallow, empty headed, post-ironic obsessed times as it is a film with no villains and completely filled with a collective of characters who are all attempting to just live peacefully and do the right thing by others. The film’s deceptive simplicity and earnest life lessons may make some potential viewers fear that this film will exist as nothing more than a theatrical Hallmark movie. This film has been frequently described as a “fable” or “folk tale,” not entirely false adjectives but for me, they are traits that actually diminish the quiet power this movie possesses and has to offer for all of us. Moreso, it has also been somewhat dismissively described as a “nice” movie, also not the sort of endorsement that typically would send today’s movie going audiences racing to the theaters. To that, I have to wonder what has happened to us as a society when “nice” movies are viewed so negatively. Yes, I will admit that I do tend to have an aversion to “nice” movies as they typically contain a spirit that is falsely sentimental, saccharine, preachy and they tend to conclude with too easy answers and typically to questions that do not contain easy answers to begin with. That said, “Get Low” is indeed an unashamedly “nice” movie but a “nice” movie with substance, honest emotion, and some much needed and essential grit and pain to make the lessons tangible and realistic.
Underneath it all, “Get Low,” in addition to being a story about forgiveness, the slow process of atonement and the various forms of redemption, is a story about stories. Most specifically, the very stories that make up all of our lives and will carry with us until the day our individualized stories cease to be. What are we without our stories? The stories we share to build connections with others as well as with ourselves. The stories that haunt and trouble us. The stories we re-visit endlessly for humor, for understanding, for guidance, for solace, for hope and for faith. The myriad of short stories when combined, make up each and every one of our lives. Our stories are who we are and without them, we have no shared humanity.
“Get Low” is a graciously humane film about that very shared humanity.
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