Every neighborhood has their own hermitic legend. As a kid we had Pappy Kratzer. Kids told tales of him firing shotguns off to scare away anyone who got too close to his house. He'd sit on his porch and ridicule kids as they went by about how things were different in his day. But I never knew Mr. Kratzer. Not even his first name. I wish I would have. I'm sure he had a story to tell.
The same can be said of the protagonist in Aaron Schneider's nostalgic drama. Felix Bush (Robert Duvall, THE ROAD) sports a long straggly gray beard and tattered clothes. He lives in a small cabin in the woods, where kids dare each other to pass the sign warning people not to come onto his land. He rarely comes into town and when he does it becomes all the chatter. The rumors say he killed a man once.
Now Felix is having heart problems and knows that he is coming to the end of his days. So he comes up with an idea. He wants to throw his funeral while he's still alive. Funeral parlor owner Frank Quinn (Bill Murray, LOST IN TRANSLATION) is eager to take hermit money, while his assistant Buddy (Lucas Black, SLINGBLADE) is uncomfortable with the whole circus that eventually surrounds the event. Felix wants to hear what people have to say about the crazy old nutter before he goes. But he also wants to tell his story.
Now that he's come out of isolation, he begins to reconnect with old friends. Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek, IN THE BEDROOM) was once his lover. She describes him as being the most interesting man she ever met, not because of his odd look, but because of the mysterious depth that seemed to lie behind his eyes. But his secrets run deep and a photograph of a woman that he holds dear, holds secrets for the both of them. Moreover, the black preacher Rev. Charlie Jackson (Bill Cobbs, THE HUDSUCKER PROXY) knows the true nature of the strange man.
First-time feature director Schneider was a cinematographer before his 2003's short film TWO SOLDIERS won him an Oscar for Best Live-Action Short Film. His time as DP certainly shines through in this gorgeous looking film. He captures a rustic charm for his 1930s Tennessee set story. The production design is spot on to the period, reminding me in many ways of O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU? in look.
With a cast with the names Duvall, Murray and Spacek, one can expect excellence and the film delivers. Duvall gives an understated performance as a man who isn't as crazy as everyone thinks. He is a soulful man who has purposely put himself into exile over past sins he cannot forgive himself for. Murray brings the film wry humor as he sits in the background wondering how the woman he has feelings for could ever desire Felix Bush. That woman, Spacek's Maddie, too has a well of emotion and guilt that plagues her soul. Her reunion with Felix brings back fond memories and painful scars.
While the overall story fells well worn at times, the pieces here make it resonate. Felix Bush was a man who loved and lost like us all. The small town he came from doesn't look past the exterior and he wants it that way. He has to find the courage to tell his own story in his own words. Otherwise it will be lost to folk legend, just like Pappy Kratzer.
Buy "Get Low" on Blu-ray Here!
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
