Robert Duvall as
Felix Bush 

Robert Duvall and
Bill Murray

Bill Murray as
Frank Quinn

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Get Inspired to Get to the Theater to see “Get Low”

In his latest film, Get Low, Academy Award winner Robert Duvall stars as Felix Bush, a surly hermit in search of redemption. Duvall, who also served as executive producer in this independent film, has given us another award-worthy performance, as he has in so many movies, such as Tender Mercies and The Apostle. First time feature director Aaron Schneider had an all star cast to work with, including Oscar nominated Bill Murray, Academy Award winner Sissy Spacek, Lucas Black, Gerald McRaney and Bill Cobbs, making this story of a man planning his own funeral all the more enjoyable to watch. If you want to slow down a little, laugh a little, smile a lot, and have your heart touched while being transported back to the 1930s, this film is for you.

We learn early in the film that Felix Bush wants to plan his funeral, but runs into a problem when he reveals that he wants to be in attendance. His idea of a living funeral does not get a positive response from the local reverend (Gerald McRaney). Bush, who has been reclusive for the past forty years, doesn’t have a good reputation among the locals of this small, rural Tennessee town. For starters, he totes a shotgun and is not afraid to use it. After offering to pay handsomely for a living funeral, Bush is told by the reverend, “You can’t buy forgiveness. It’s free, but you do have to ask for it.”

Enter funeral home director Frank Quinn (Bill Murray) and his employee Buddy (Lucas Black), who are more than willing to help Bush with his odd request. Lack of business is a good motivator. “Nobody dies here,” is a complaint that not many people would have, but for Frank Quinn, it is a big concern. As the film moves forward, it is tastefully peppered with humor as the unlikely trio work together to plan Felix Bush’s “living funeral party.” Not surprisingly, Bush has a secret, one from which he seeks forgiveness of a past girlfriend, well cast and portrayed by Sissy Spacek. His struggle comes in not being able to bring himself to say the words. He hopes to recruit his old friend Charlie (Bill Cobbs), the only person who knows his secret, to speak for him at his living funeral.

Director Aaron Schneider has done a splendid job, as evidenced by the wonderful performances of the cast as a whole. Duvall’s performance is captivating, not only when delivering one of his signature, long-winded speeches, but equally so when Bush is alone in his home, quietly talking to a picture of a significant person from his past. Murray continues to prove beyond a doubt that his performance in Lost in Translation was not a fluke. One disappointment is that he didn’t have more screen time. Lucas Black may be a less recognized name to many, but his performance does not go unnoticed. If you don’t remember him from Friday Night Lights or Jarhead, you may remember him as the young boy, Frank, in Sling Blade. I think Black is an actor we will see many great performances from in the future.

Also to Schneider’s credit, although the film is set in the depression era, with no need for glorified special effects, the imagery stood out for me. Therefore, it was no surprise when researching Schneider to discover that his background is in cinematography. In this time of computer generated, 3D, action packed movies, it is refreshing to be reminded that less can sometimes be more.

I saw Get Low on what would have been my dad’s seventy-eighth birthday. It was also the first time that I was not able to talk to him on his birthday, and I thought it might be a tough day for me to view this film. I could not have been more wrong. Although bittersweet, this subtle, character driven film lifted my spirits. Ultimately, this is a simple, quirky story of a man in search of forgiveness, from others as well as from himself, something we have all done, or will do, at some point in our life.

Tyna S. Cline © September 13, 2010