lavatch
If the characters of "Hollow in the Land" had been slightly more bizarre and if the film had been graced with an eerie soundtrack, this might have been an episode of "Twin Peaks."The action takes place in a small, picturesque town in Western Canada. But the residents of Castlegar are too busy with custody battles, crime, drugs, and covering up their dirty laundry to take note of the beautiful landscape.The narrative focuses on the character of Ally Miller, who is La Femme Nikita transplanted to the Pacific Northwest. Ally turns into a kinetic private eye as she attempts to clear the name of her young brother, who has been placed in her custody after the incarceration of their father, Keith Miller, who was convicted of vehicular manslaughter.The young lad that was killed by the drunken Mr. Miller was Eli Balkoff, the son of the two town local scions, Helen and Jim Balkoff, who run the Balkoff paper mill where Ally works. Mr. and Mrs. Balkoff have recently dedicated their efforts to building a Center for Misguided Youth in their community, of which there are plenty of examples of juvenile delinquency.Amid the degeneracy of Castlegar, Ally Miller steps up to the plate to track down the culprits who have framed her little bro, Brandon Miller. Along the way, Ally learns that nearly all of the residents are guarding personal secrets. Two of the most intriguing characters are a pair of elderly women who have for years been growing pot, unbeknownst to the member of the community. Those women may hold the key to collective past of the town that will unlock the secrets to the great antipathy felt towards the Miller family.The irony of the townspeople is that everyone seems to know everyone else and makes it their personal business to be nosy. And yet, in the end, they really do not know each other's deepest secrets. One of the colorful placenames is that of Snob Hill, where Ally is led to another one of her clues. In this sleepy little trailer park community of Castlegar, it turns out that there really are some social snobs, who may help Ally to undercover the tragic underbelly of her dysfunctional world.
Siebert_Tenseven
Anyone who can sit though this endless saga of perpetual wild-eyed suspense has got to have about as much nothing upstairs as the creators of this worthless butt stain of an awful movie. The viewer is forced through one and a half hours of a dimensionless young woman trying to find her equally dimensionless brother in a depressing landscape of bad haircuts and shotguns.It would be OK if there were a few suspenseful moments leading up to a meaningful conclusion, but since the character development in this movie is about as neglected as a sweaty gym sock on the seat of a downtown express bus, by the time the determined yet sexy heroine catches up with her worthless idiot of a brother, nobody could care one doo-doo about anything but this movie ending as quickly as possible.
jettison02
I really didnt know what to expect. the direction of the film seemed well thought out.
the lead actress is gorgeous, and plays the role seriously serious. idk it was that girl from glee.
iceman was cool, pun intended - youre welcome
overall the movie was better than a one time watch. its dark, gritty, and totally brings you into the life of the characters.
Michael Ledo
Possible spoiler. Keith Miller has been in jail for a year when the film starts. He robbed a store drunk and then killed a boy on a bicycle. He gets 15 years sitting in a Canadian jail listening to Anne Murray. His daughter Alison (Dianna Agron), the town lesbian, is given guardianship of her 17 year old brother Brandon ( Jared Abrahamson). Brandon spends his time as a miserable teen. When Earl (John Sampson), a man who the whole town hated, is killed, Brandon, the main suspect goes missing and Alison plays Nancy Drew and uncovers secrets about the town. The investigation was "Winterbone" slow. The acting wasn't bad, but the pace needed to be better. Also all of the town secrets come at us at 75 minutes into the film without any real clues. We already have a guy we don't like and know it is going to go to him, but does so in a real idiotic fashion. Guide; F-word. No sex or nudity
AD
