Dir. Aaron Schneider, USA/Germany/Poland, 2009, 103mins
Cast: Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray, Lucas Black
Review by Matthew Rodgers
Ever since Jack Nicholson nailed the ageing curmudgeon act in About Schmidt , most screen oldies have attempted a similar role in a journeying towards impending mortality tale. Clint Eastwood has made it his calling card since Unforgiven , Richard Farnsworth rode his lawnmower into the sunset in The Straight Story , Morgan Freeman and Nicholson (again) compiled their Bucket List , and even Get Low co-star Bill Murray did the “what’s it all about” routine in Lost in Translation .
This is the turn of Robert Duvall, seemingly unwashed since we last saw him shuffling down The Road . Here he plays Felix Bush, a reclusive, woodland dwelling hermit with no regard for anyone and a figure of fear in the local community. When his own fast approaching death stares him in the face he recruits local funeral directors (Bill Murray and Lucas Black) to host his departure. The catch is that he wants to be still alive and kicking to set the record straight and give his own eulogy.
Much of the intrigue, the journey if you will, lies in the desire to discover Felix’s secrets and motivations. Why do the townsfolk fear him? Who is the woman in the mysterious picture that he clings to? Will Bill Murray’s funeral director rip him off?
And in all those respects Get Low is an anti-climactic let down that loses momentum very quickly. Our own journey as a viewer isn’t as interesting as we’d hoped it would be at the outset.
So why bother seeing this at all? The simple answer is the performances. Duvall’s face is like a narrative in itself: every line, wrinkle and flicker of the eyes is loaded with pathos. Even when Murray is playing second fiddle you wouldn’t pass up the chance to watch any film featuring him. His double act with the solid Lucas Black offers him the chance to deliver some trademark sardonic one liners – “people are dying everywhere but here” coming from a funeral director.
Get Low shuffles along like a whimsical breeze of a movie. There are moments of light hearted frivolity that are suddenly and effectively permeated by some genuinely moving melancholy. However the story never grips and the film fails to wring the requisite emotion from such a maudlin plot. Much like Duvall’s character, the film shuffles from existence leaving the vague imprint that something was once there but it’s not worth recalling.
