Sankari_Suomi
While hunting in the woods one day, an alcoholic poacher picks the wrong target and precipitates a series of events that threatens to destroy his life and the financial security of the married woman with whom he is having an illicit affair. Set in the filthy backwaters of West Virginia, this grim story of love and revenge is a fine example of the popular and well established Redneck Noir genre.I rate A Single Shot at 23.31 on the Haglee Scale, which works out as a gritty 7/10 on IMDB
Liam Blackburn
Yup, that would best describe the overall feeling of this movie. It reminded lot of OUt of The Furnace....but this actually has realness and good metaphors going on. It basically comes down to the main character Jon digging a grave for this frozen corpse of a woman who he had been storing in his freezer. He did kill her...yes...by accident...but that isn't the point. The point is, that the woman corpse symbolizes his soon to be ex-wife. He just can't let go....Even after he kills her he can't let it go. Then there's the deer, the deer symbolizes his son? maybe? The horse and the girl....The girl who wants to be with Jon. The girl who gets caught in the crossfire of Jon's ill-gotten cash grab. The girl who's Dad owns the farm that Jon used to own. THere is just so much imagery and metaphors going on that it would take a while to analyze it. Since this was based off a book, the credit has to go to the writer there. The movie itself wasn't about the plot, it was about the atmosphere. They created that atmosphere amazingly well.
jdeureka
This is an exquisitely dark, rural, all-American series noir. Plot line and moral being: a good man goes bad, because that's the way things can be, the way things are. Nature -- human or otherwise, isn't kind. Mistakes happen. And you often pay for them in the wilderness of this world we live in alone and altogether. Chance has its way of crushing you, burying you alive. Watch out. Plus, aside from a potent story line, the acting is downright first rate. Not a single one of the actors are off key. I don't know who did the casting for "A Single Shot", but they deserve an award for it. Also exquisite in this film is the ending -- one of the most original examples of "open ended" I've ever seen in a film. You've got to be in a dark, worried mood to like this film; its darkness is relentless. "A Single Shot" is not for everyone; in no way is it "G" or "GP". But for thoughtful adults it is very well worth the watching.
LeonLouisRicci
Grim and Gloomy, this Neo-Noir is a Cold Thriller that is Atmospheric and Character Driven. There are some Scary People and some Scary Moments in this Tale of Small Town, Backwoods Glum. The Tone is a Titillating Grab the Money and Cover Up the Crime Film that Feels Alienated and Familiar, Interesting and Foreboding. Sam Rockwell Leads a Cast of Familiar Faces that are Buried in Deep Alcoholic Mumbles Punctuated with Low IQ's and High Energy.It Twists and Turns in the way it is On Again Off Again as the Protagonist is Pulled Here and There by His Own Missteps and the Forces of Evil. It is an Intriguing Film, mostly, Hampered Somewhat by some Sloppy Plot Executions in the Middle. There are some Ambiguous Motivations and Dialog along the way, but the Beginning and the Ending are Enough to make this a Fine, Modern, Desperate Exercise in Temptation, Fate, and a Revelation that Yes, it is a Scary World out there and can be all the more Terrifying if You take the Wrong Turn on that Rural Road.
AD
