BEFORE: I'll get back to movies about actors in a little bit, but for now, here come some movies about musicians.
And Birthday SHOUT-Out #2 goes to Robert Duvall, born January 5, 1931. Happy 80th, Bobby D.! (last seen in "Four Christmases")
THE PLOT: A broken-down, middle-aged country singer gets a new wife, reaches out to his long-lost daughter, and tries to put his troubled life back together.
AFTER: This is a simple film that proves you don't need car chases and explosions to entertain. However, the flip side of that is, some people like car chases and explosions, and might regard this film as quite boring. After all, it's just about an old man trying to stay sober and put his life back together.
And like last night's film, it's about people who were damaged by their old relationships or lost loves finding each other and learning to love again - but the concept works so much better with an aging country singer than with some young Hollywood stars.
What forces bring these lost souls together? Why do they get a second chance, when others don't? What does it take to keep on going? While the movie may not have all the answers, at least it's not afraid to ask some of these questions.
A note about the music, and I'm not a fan of country so it might be tough for me to judge - but Duvall proved to be a very competent singer. The songs he sang, like "It Hurts to Face Reality" and "If You Hold the Ladder (I'll Climb to the Top)" seemed excessive corny and maudlin - maudlin fits the setting, but corny is inexcusable. I much preferred another song in the film that Duvall did NOT sing, called "I'm Drinkin' Canada Dry" - because at first it sounds like it's a song about ginger ale, then you realize that no, the singer actually intends to keep drinking until Canada runs out of alcohol. Nice play on words there.
Also starring Betty Buckley (last seen in "The Happening"), Tess Harper (last seen in "No Country For Old Men"), Ellen Barkin (last seen in "Man Trouble"), Wilford Brimley (last seen in "Cocoon: The Return") and one of my favorite character actors, Lenny Von Dohlen.
RATING: 5 out of 10 truck stops
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