It’s hard to really notice eccentric people in a modern city the size of Los Angeles, where millions upon millions of residents tend to blur together as they rush past each other in their cars. But in rural America, the town oddballs still stand out, whether they’re lovably kooky, or – as is the case in the richly textured and highly entertaining new film “Get Low” – they’re seemingly antisocial recluses with an array of bad social skills.
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Starring Robert Duvall in one of his best and most colorful performances, as Appalachian hermit Felix “Bush” Brazeale, “Get Low” is a character-based dramedy that knows when to mine the comic gold to be had in exchanges between Duvall and his co-star Bill Murray, and when to pull back and allow a powerful yet quiet and deeply human story grab hold of viewers. Based on an improbable yet true Depression-era story, it follows Felix as he embarks on a highly unusual quest: to pay for his own funeral in advance, but not actually be dead in it.
Rather, Felix wants to be alive and watching what others say about him. There’s been a thousand legends created about him throughout the lonely decades of his life, but only some of them are true. The problem is, some of the worst tales may be the most accurate ones.
At first, Felix thinks he can just show up at the town’s white and black churches with a wad of money and buy himself a perfect, custom-made service. The preachers tell him that he’s got to make personal peace with God rather than buying his passage into the Pearly Gates.
Yet Felix has never been ready to crack and admit just what happened on a long-ago night when his involvement in an illicit love triangle took on unintended yet deadly consequences. So he hires subtly slimy and fast-talking funeral parlor owner Frank Quinn (Murray) to create the service for him, and decides that the big event will be the perfect time for him to give the big reveal to everyone and fix his reputation before he dies.
There are plenty of twists and turns from there, but they’re handled in a realistic, matter-of-fact manner rather than the often-brash tones of most current American comedies. It also has a powerful message of redemption and forgiveness that is solidly rendered in the Christian tradition, showing Duvall’s still ready to stand by his faith just as strongly as he did in 1997’s “The Apostle,” which he wrote, directed and starred in.
Duvall is a marvel to watch, both when sporting a crazy-man beard while being a mean SOB in the first part of the film and as he slowly tries to become a nicer person while rekindling another old flame, played by Sissy Spacek.
Murray nearly steals the show, however, with his best role since the Wes Anderson classic “Rushmore” back in 1999. His classic rat-a-tat patter is as timeless as his ability to convey smugness with just a role of his eyes or a flick of his jaw. And Spacek makes a welcome return to the screen, settling nicely into her role as a Southern widow learning to trust and love again.
But perhaps the best part of “Get Low” is its authentic, period Appalachian-style score by Jan A.P. Kaczmarek (an Oscar-winner for “Finding Neverland”) and the luminous cinematography of David Boyd. Brought all together by a constantly fresh and inventive script by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell and surprisingly assured direction by first-time feature director Aaron Schneider, “Get Low” could very well end up high on next year’s Oscar nomination lists.