nathan_912013
In this small town crime drama we face the protagonists demons more then we do the murderer. This film is not in everyone's taste especially with the initial set up that tricks you into thinking this is another mystery movie. The film is dripping with a spiritual thirst for redemption and while a lot of people bash the soundtrack fro being too loud and distracting i believe it hit the tone just right. If anything the music is what made the movie. With such a barren and bland setting with simple farm raised characters i think the music adds a great contrast that creates the emotion that in the viewer that the main character experiences. I will admit i was surprised and skeptical at first when i heard the soundtrack blare out of my t.v. during slow motion and seemingly meaningless scenes, but after my second and third viewing i realize that it is the scenes with the most meaning that the music plays during. This film is an amazing character study and great tale of redemption and the will to be a better person. Peter Stormare is spectacular and riveting the whole movie, though he says very little, every word seems to carry a raspy deepness. I recommend this film to everyone who would like a different kind of crime drama. 'nough said.
punishmentpark
Peter Stormare. The first time I saw him^ was in another (homespun) murder-story: 'Fargo'. There, he fit the bill perfectly, but here... I don't know, really. He has plenty of charisma for me to stay interested, but his performance never got under my skin, nor did the whole 'story'.The big texts on the screen weren't helping either, they didn't add anything to what was plainly there already. The music - fierce gospels with rhythmic percussion - is in itself beautiful, but maybe used a little too much.'Small town...' is a somewhat contemplative film on violence, change and forgiveness and their place in society and man, but it never becomes a truly gripping tale.5 out of 10.^ I checked out his career, and it seems I must have seen him earlier in 'Awakenings', but I can't recall his part.
John C
To be fair, the director set himself up with a task that was going to undermine him. This is the story of a severely bottled-up individual who has a history of rage and violence, who has separated himself from larger society both because he can't trust himself and they know they can't trust him either. But to play such a character means going inward so much that it doesn't give the viewer a whole lot to look at. There are long stretches of this short movie where we see the protagonist simply frozen with his own torment.The standout performance here is by Jill Hennessey, who conveys such resentment and antipathy toward the protagonist that it practically jumps off the screen. Every frame she's in the movie becomes compelling. If there had been more done with the back story between these two it might have made for a more interesting story.Regarding the music - this kind of new-gospel is not to my taste, but even if it were, the fact that it's amped-up so loud compared to the rest of the film, where the characters barely speak above a whisper, is completely off-putting. What is supposed to add emotional and spiritual impact ends up just sounding bombastic. I felt aurally mugged.
non-shill
Yeah, it's like a Coen film. Mainly because it's horrible. But also because it doesn't even try to make sense or mean anything.The movie begins--and is intermittently littered with--ridiculous, meaningless religious expressions like "GOD FINDS US WHERE WE'RE AT". Enlightening? No. Meaningful? No. Pertinent? No.And the music? It's mixed at an obnoxious volume level, and each and every song is an auditory abomination. Which fits in just fine with the awful script.It's supposedly "artistic" and "sophisticated" to vomit out movies like this. I think it's lazy and pathetic. Leaving gigantic holes in the plot and nearly totally omitting character development doesn't "make you think", it makes you wonder why you're wasting your time on such a vacuous film.
AD
