reviews by Shannon Bowman-Sarkisian

Get Low

December 2011—No one says anything negative at a funeral. The bereaved focus on what the deceased did well — the person’s finest qualities and best traits. It usually isn’t a completely honest depiction, but it’s a truth of sorts. We remember what we loved about the person, what we will miss. That’s just the way memorials are done. Folks don’t want to publicly announce the mistakes and bad habits of someone who has passed on. We are shown in the best light after we are gone and can no longer enjoy the flattery and praise. But what if there was another way?

After a near brush with death, Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) decides to throw an immense pre-death funeral for himself that he can attend like a curmudgeonly Tom Sawyer. Funeral director Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) and his assistant Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black) are hired to invite people from miles around to “tell stories” about the reclusive Bush. It’s an intriguing film based on fascinating actual events that occurred in Roane County, Tenn. in 1938. Loosely based on the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale, Get Low blends fact and fiction so well, it doesn’t seem to matter that the filmmakers have fudged the details a bit — although relatives of Quinn have expressed displeasure at the way his character was portrayed.

The movie version Bush is a lonely, grouchy old man, feared and hated by the townspeople, but Duvall gives a masterful performance. Beneath the gruff exterior is a brilliant craftsman who has suffered and wants to make amends. The result is so cathartic that audiences may find themselves desiring their own pre-death funerals.

Get Low, available on DVD, is rated PG-13 for some thematic material and brief violent content. Running time: 100 minutes.

Everything Must Go

Recovery programs tend to agree that most alcoholics have to hit bottom before seeking sobriety. Sometimes they bottom out multiple times, or are bailed out by well-meaning but misguided loved ones. The protagonist of Everything Must Go, Nick Halsey (Will Ferrell), is a relapsed alcoholic who is spiraling out of control. He loses his job, his wife, his car, and access to his bank account in a matter of hours. He returns to an empty home with locks that have been changed and a front lawn littered with his belongings. Instead of picking up the pieces of his life and moving on, Halsey hunkers down on a recliner with a six-pack.

This is the story of an anti-hero who is repugnant in many ways. He hurts the people around him and says terrible things. He is also incredibly pitiful, unable to function on even a basic level. On the surface it appears that there’s not much to like about Halsey, but Ferrell gives the character a heart without piling on the saccharine. His interactions with Kenny (Christopher Jordan Wallace), a 12-year-old neighborhood boy, are the strongest part of the film.

Everything Must Go is an ambitious movie and Ferrell ventured into new territory by playing a serious part in an indie film, but there are a lot of loose ends and unnecessary side plots. For no discernible reason other than to prove to the audience that he’s not a terrible person, Halsey takes a bike ride to visit an old classmate (Laura Dern) who wrote something nice in his yearbook. He forms a relationship with his pregnant neighbor (Rebecca Hall) but it seems superfluous when there’s a perfectly good character arc created by Halsey’s relationship with Kenny. That being said, its imperfections don’t make Everything Must Go a terrible movie — or even one that’s worth skipping.

Everything Must Go, available on DVD, is rated R for language and some sexual content. Running time: 97 minutes.