2015 Directed by Hank Bedford
A young, recently-released and unpredictable ex-con with bad luck, and a sexy, listless girl-next-door with a troubled family, become trapped in a downward spiral of crime and obsessive love, as they try to ditch their dead-end town for a better life.
There's something about Riley Keough as a trashy white girl that I just love. She's like the Florida version of Kristen Stewart with all her sleepy eyed charm and bad posture.
This movie was genre bending trailer trash art house, complete with fourth wall breaks, real life docu-style testimonials, extreme close-ups, inanimate camera fixation, etc. Decisions were definitely made regarding pacing, casting and story- sometimes for better, mostly for worse. If you're in the mood for a southern crime/romance/arthouse/drama, I guess watch Dixieland. I mean, it's spotty at best and nothing goes the way you think it would and the story is sometimes awkward or haphazard, but it's got it's wistful southern fried moments that kept me watching. Plus, Faith Hill and Mick Foley cameo so you kind of know you're in for something uneven like, right away.
This really worked, simple visuals with spurts of dream time imagery. A guy and a girl from the wrong side of the tracks fall in love, while losing at life.
Concise script, well executed.
That faded, wilted American flag is this poetic, powerful drama's signifier. There is no American dream, and this fated film stands as a portrait of how we live in America, today. The tone reminds me of a Southern Soderbergh, with moments of lyricism evoking Malick with a Southern accent. Chris Zylka is a good-hearted ex-con called Kermit, just sprung from jail for running his mom's boyfriend, sleazy strip-club owner Larry Pretty (Brad Carter), out of her hot tub with a shot gun. Riley Keough's electric, blank expression puts one in mind of Kuleshov's famous editing experiment, though Jonathan Rosenbaum has written about the sexism of critiques of the "blank" performance in women and not men (it's considered tough when Clint…
A gritty look at the life of a recently released ex-con. Chris Zylka and Riley Keough make a believable screen couple. Faith Hill is pretty good in a supporting role. I actually did not even recognize her until reading the end credits. The story, however, is not as impressive as the characters. It is very predictable. In the end....this one reaches "average" status....which in my book is a 3 star movie.
Captivating... Two young lovers, meet and love fast, both from tough backgrounds and rough situations. The cinematography is crisp and creative. The chemistry between these two lead actors is awesome. The acting is genuine and heart wrenching. The writing is clever and unpredictable. I also liked the small stories in between, very unique. Good indie film. I will be looking into more work from Riley Keough and Chris Zyika, both two new favorites.
There's a dream sequence featuring Mick Foley shooting finger pistols. That's all you really need to know about this moderately weird-ass wannabe Malickian fever dream of a redneck romantic drama with Documentary segments that don't quite entirely work but I digress.
It's filmed very Malick style. I liked it a bit.
Not the greatest movie ever made but not bad either.
One could argue that this is a pretty predictable film but the faintly sad atmosphere it manages to conjure up went a long way in making me like this more that I thought I would.
A+ for effort but there wasn't a lot going on here for me past the surface. Liked the main cast, disappointed by the ambivalence of the camerawork and conclusion.
