Michael Ledo
Scott Haze convincingly plays the title role as Lester Ballard, a mentally deficient adult who lives off the land in rural Tennessee. He is the type of man who yells at passing cars. The film is set in the 1950s (?) in late autumn. The only home Lester has known was recently auctioned off. Through a series of circumstances Lester discovers necrophilia, which has never been one of my favorite film topics, except for maybe as a dark comedy which this wasn't.I will say the acting was excellent. The story was done well, bravo James Franco, but unfortunately didn't go anywhere. This is an excellent crime/ drama/ thriller, I didn't enjoy.Parental Guide: F-bomb, sex, necrophilia, nudity (Nina Ljeti, Elena McGhee)
grantss
Unengaging and dull.A man lives on the fringes of society in a remote rural area. Over time his anti-social behaviour becomes more and more extreme, deranged and felonious.Despite the grittiness of the plot and some potentially controversial scenes, the movie feels quite empty. It's just a 100- minute walk-though of a few days in the life of an insane, feral person. There is no engagement with the lead character. We don't get his backstory, or any reason to empathise with him. So it just feels like a join-the-dots, blow-by-blow exercise with no point at all.While the script is based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, the movie is directed by James Franco, who also co-wrote the screenplay. Now you see where the problem lies... Turns out the only thing worse than James Franco's acting is his directing. On the plus side, while Franco does act in the movie, his role is quite small and has little screen time.
deacon_blues-3
Not having read the novel (but I will soon), I do not have the burden of comparison that some other reviewers have. I found the film very interesting, in that it portrayed a human being descending into the lowest level of degradation. But his degradation is fueled by the same needs that all children of God have. His disgrace comes in the way he seeks to meet those needs, not in the actual needs themselves. Everyone in the film thinks that Lester is stupid, but he is not, as the ending shows. He is cunning and skilled beyond many of his community. Neither is he summarily shunned by everyone in his surrounding community; many seem to be willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to daily interactions (for example, the boutique clerk, and the carnival). But his evil attitudes and paranoid suspicions involving social interactions drag him deeper and deeper in to inhumanity. I had to admire the acting of Scott Haze. Yes, I could have done without the defecation scene near the start, but all the other disgraceful scenes seemed essential to the unfolding of the character. Strangely fascinating.
SnoopyStyle
Lester Ballard (Scott Haze) is a disturbed man living in the rural mountains of Tennessee in the 60s. His father killed himself and his mother ran away. His father's property is auctioned off and he becomes a recluse. He gets in trouble with Sheriff Fate (Tim Blake Nelson) after he struggled with a drunken woman. He steals and is a general nuisance. He runs across a young couple dead in their car. He has sex with the dead girl and steals her body away.I think this is the only movie where a character is actually taking a dump. I've got to say that it's disturbing and gross. It sets the tone for the whole movie. Scott Haze is terrific in his performance. The main problem is that the movie is uninvolving. After awhile, Lester's insanity feels repetitive and lifeless. His isolation infiltrates into the movie. This movie needs more time for Sheriff Fate. I also wonder why the sheriff can't put him away longer and how bad the dead body smells. These are the little things that nag at me when the movie stops being compelling. James Franco's directions are workable but they need to energize the plot more.
AD
