mark.waltz "His insides will petrify and his stool will turn to concrete." With that piece of Walt Whitman style poetry, this film expresses its desire to be profound art. This is another "slice of life" drama about one member of a family's desire to get away as another one returns, surrounding these two total strangers in spite of the direct lineage, becoming close as the desires of a younger family member are related to by the returning member and opening up advice, whether wanted or not. I can understand the desire of bright young Reece Thompson to get away from his constantly at each other's throats family (and neighbors), and if somebody tried to pay me for painting with a fat old hog, I'd be out of there on the first greyhound.Kris Kristofferson is the aging prodigal, returning home and creating all sorts of conflict. His children with let him see their mother, and unfinished business with him among the townsfolk creates even more conflict. Idealistic Thompson must deal with his girlfriend's obnoxious man hating mother, while the uninformed family matriarch (a subtle and warmhearted Frances Conroy) thinks she's going crazy because she keeps hearing her ex's guitar. Other than Thompson, the only family member who seems to be somewhat happy over Kristofferson's return is black sheep son Val Kilmer, underacting and likable (somewhat) for a change, showing up unexpectedly for the fishing trip his dad promised but never took him on.With thousands of films on dysfunctional families coming out both in the theater and on TV, they take away from the impact of the issues that surround real families. Much of the time, they focus on rural families, giving good reason why many people leave these communities, head for a big city and rarely, if ever, visit. Fortunately, there's a few characters here who have integrity and aren't embittered clichés, relatable for their dreams and ones whose stories should involve less standard circumstances and predictable situations. Thompson is likable enough to win sympathy, and his performance is outstanding. This just doesn't fully involve you because key pieces are missing in the details, especially concerning Kristofferson's nightmares. A horrifying twist at the end brings out the ugliness in one of the family members (only hinted at through their bitterness), and it moves to a very depressing observation about blood relations. When this works, it strikes a solid cord, but for most of the time, it's just drab and unhopeful.

sponge3 I love Val and Kris. And recently, Dwight has shown his acting chops so I had to see this. This is a slow moving story with mostly great acting so it was able to maintain my interest. The Brady Bloodworth character (W. Earl Brown) is over-acted in my opinion but the rest of the characters can hold your interest. You want to see what ultimately happens so you keep watching.Watch this if you are willing to give it time but don't watch if you need car chases, or something to blow up. Mostly great cast and a few classic lines from some Hollywood legends. Beautiful scenery is just a bonus to this film. Bright, vibrant scenery adds to the overall experience of this down home Americana type film.For better or worse, this story is very believable on many levels. Relax, turn off the phone and enjoy."I'm Warren, your son. When I was a boy you said you'd take me fishin, you never did. C'mon."

analogcassettes As a long time fan of Kris Kristofferson I was eager to see what he had to offer to the screen, not having seen any of the other films he has acted in. I sort of scoffed when I saw Hilary Duff in the opening credits, but decided it had been a long time since her dumb kid movie days and that I should give her a fair chance.Opening scenes are nice, seem to be establishing a good amount of visually pleasing imagery, the characters seem really interesting. I was intrigued. I did remain intrigued for much of the movie, but once it hit the two thirds mark I really felt like something was missing. I was having a hard time putting my finger on it, but really once I got to the end of the movie it felt like there was so much that was unsaid, unexplained and un-followed through with. The story seemed to addle on and continue moving, but nothing really follows through with Dwight Yoakum's character Boyd. The eventual reunion of E.F. Bloodworth and his ex wife Julia just really falls short. I enjoyed Kristofferson on screen, but it just seems that the story went too many places at once (Not to mention the horrible dream sequences! I felt like I was watching a TV re-enactment!) and didn't carry enough weight in any of them to tie them together very well. Val Kilmer's character is interesting and pretty well played and his part of the story plays out in it's entirety, it seems. Pretty great scene in the end between Fleming and Warren. But Hilary Duff did not really redeem herself, in my eyes. Some OK acting, but still, less than what I was expecting from such a good-looking movie. It was sort of like watching a movie based on a book that you really like and just noticing how much had fallen through the cracks. Except I didn't quite know what was being lost. Maybe it was a book first and I should read that instead.All in all: enjoyable, worth watching but don't get your hopes up too high. This is no Crazy Heart.

rightwingisevil Wow, this movie is so good. Wonderful characters, wonderful storyline, wonderful songs and music, beautiful countryside. Weird but also very normal people down in the South. There are very nice and kind people, but also got lot of mean people, white trash. The guy who left the family 40 years ago, now wanted to come back to his old home again to die. There are so many deep nostalgic emotions, melancholic memories, hard and hurt feelings floating around in this bitter sweet movie. The struggling, lonely, frustrate growing pain of that wonderful innocent young man, that girl he fell in love with, "I got a gal, sweet as she can be, Raven is her name..." , a short but sweet song. Everybody in this movie performed so well and so natural. Just wish more people could enjoy this movie.