GET LOW / ***½

Distributor: Sony Classics
Release Date: July 30, 2010
Genre: Comedy
Running Time: 100 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG-13

In the last several years, the great Oscar winner Robert Duvall has mostly been showing up in supporting roles in critically acclaimed films like “Crazy Heart,” “The Road,” and “Thank You for Smoking.” You’d have to go all the way back to 2003’s “Assassination Tango” for the last time Duvall was the focal point of a movie.

That made it such a treat to watch him in “Get Low,” from Oscar winner Aaron Schneider (“Two Soldiers,” 2004, Best Short Film, Live Action), making his feature-film directorial debut. Duvall plays Felix Bush, a legendary hermit loosely based on a real person in Roane County, Tennessee in 1938. Felix has been in near solitary confinement on his 300 acres for almost 40 years, and no one quite knows why, though they love to make up stories about him, as people are want to do with the unknown.

The audience is more privileged though, as we are treated to an opening shot that sees a man running away from a burning house. Obviously this scene will play into the climax, and as the film progresses it becomes clear exactly how it’s going to play out.

In order to get there, Felix plans a funeral party, at which he himself will attend, and everyone in all four neighboring counties is invited to. Felix says he wants everyone to come and tell stories about him, but what he really wants is to tell the story of himself.

The screenplay by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell (from a story by Provenzano and Scott Seeke) offers few surprises, but is filled with a warmth and affection for its characters that carries it through. It must have been written specifically for those involved. Duvall is of course perfect, and Oscar nominee Bill Murray gives one of his most subtly brilliant performances as Frank Quinn, director of the funeral home in charge of Felix’s party. Oscar winner Sissy Spacek is effective as Mattie Darrow, a woman who knows Felix better than any of the other townspeople. Lucas Black (“Sling Blade”) holds his own with the aforementioned heavyweights as Buddy, Quinn’s assistant.

The true scene stealer is veteran character actor Bill Cobbs as the Rev. Charlie Jackson. He has a history with Felix and has a very important role in his funeral party.

“Get Low” is a very solid and enjoyable film from out of nowhere (playing in limited release, so see it if you can), and the true pleasure comes from watching Duvall and Murray make it look so easy.

Theater: RMP Festival Plaza 16 – Montgomery, Alabama
Time: 710 pm
Date: August 29, 2010

CRAZY HEART / ***½

Distributor: Fox Searchlight
Release Date: December 16, 2009
Genre: Drama
Running Time: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

After four previous Oscar nominations and decades of being one of the most respected actors in Hollywood, Jeff Bridges finally seems poised to capture an Academy Award for best Actor for his performance as the hard living country singer Bad Blake in Scott Cooper’s “Crazy Heart.”

The story is strikingly similar to another film that brought its leading man plenty of Oscar talk last year – Darren Aronofsky’s “The Wrestler” with Mickey Rourke. Bad Blake is a country singer who used to be a lot bigger than he is now, as his concerts are booked in bowling alleys and corner bars in small towns. He’s been drunk likely as long as he can remember, and his carousing lifestyle has led to a distance from those he once loved.

On one of his tour stops, he meets a young journalist named Jean Craddock (Maggie Gyllenhaal) that wants to interview him. They develop an instant rapport and Bad even takes a liking to her young son. Jean approaches the relationship with some degree of trepidation, but she can’t help but be transfixed by the man who seems to effortlessly write great songs while simply lying in bed and hardly thinking about it.

While Bad Blake is playing in dives, one of his protégés, a man named Tommy Sweet (Colin Farrell) has attained worldwide stardom and plays to sold out arenas. This is definitely a subplot to the main love story, but the scenes between Farrell and Bridges actually outshone the Gyllenhaal and Bridges scenes. Farrell and Bridges undoubtedly have chemistry together; their scenes together are two men unsure how to act around each other, even though there is clearly respect there. I wouldn’t have minded if this was the film’s main story, but alas. Farrell continues to impress me as an actor – between this and “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (as well as last year’s “In Bruges” I really don’t think he’s getting enough credit these days.

In a bit of irony or just clever casting, Robert Duvall also shows up as Wayne, a bartender whom Bad has had a long friendship with. Duvall won an Oscar in 1984 for “Tender Mercies,” another film “Crazy Heart” can be compared to.

“Crazy Heart” though simply belongs to Jeff Bridges, and it is a wonderful performance. Whether or not it’s been declared “his time” or not it’s a performance worthy of the Oscar he’s sure to win.

Theater: RDM Westroads 14, Omaha, NE
Time: 210 pm
Date: February 7, 2010

THE ROAD / ***½

Distributor: Weinstein / Dimension
Release Date: November 25, 2009
Genre: Drama / Thriller
Running Time: 119 minutes
MPAA Rating: R

Two years ago, the Coen Brothers’ adaptation of Cormac McCarthy’s “No Country for Old Men” dazzled critics (94% fresh rating on rottentomatoes.com) and audiences (over $74 million domestic take) alike. It wound up taking home four Oscars, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay for the brothers Joel and Ethan Coen, and Best Supporting Actor for Javier Bardem. So even though I haven’t read any of McCarthy’s books (they’re on my list, I swear), I eagerly awaited the next McCarthy adaptation. Then when I heard John Hillcoat, who directed one of my favorite movies in recent years, “The Proposition,” I was even more excited.

Unfortunately, “The Road” has failed to capture the same kind of attention “No Country” garnered. It has a 74% rating on rottentomatoes.com, which is very good, but it’s not attracting any awards talk. The box office total stands at just over $7 million. I know they are two different movies, but coming from an author like McCarthy, comparisons are inevitable.

“The Road” is a post apocalyptic tale that drops us into the world after the apocalypse, with no explanation as to what happened, or what year it is. These facts are actually irrelevant to the story. We meet a Man (Oscar nominee Viggo Mortensen) and a Boy (Kodi Smit-McPhee). They trudge through the wasteland every day just trying to survive. In flashbacks we meet a Woman (Oscar winner Charlize Theron), and see the end of the fractured relationship she had with the Man and the Boy.

Along the way, Man and Boy come across vandals who want to harm them. Man’s primary goal is protecting the Boy, and he will go to any lengths to do so. They also encounter an Old Man (a nearly unrecognizable Robert Duvall) and a Veteran (Guy Pearce).

These interactions are suitably tense, and the mood of the movie is suitably gloomy. I greatly admired the construction and tone of the movie for being true to itself. However, I felt an emotional disconnect from the movie that kept it from being a truly great movie, rather than a very good one. The performances were all terrific, but I never felt that there was something greater at stake, or a greater end to arrive at.

Theater: AMC Oakview 24, Omaha, NE
Time: 250 pm
Date: December 20, 2009