Get Low: Blu-ray (2009)

Get Low is the type of film that major film studios just don't make anymore. It's a quirky character study that relies on a strong cast and workmanlike direction to succeed rather than flashy set-pieces and bombast. While the film will not go down in history as a masterpiece, it is a fine showing for the still relevant talents of Robert Duvall and Bill Murray's subtle comedy.

Felix Bush (Duvall) has lived life as a hermit in Tennessee for almost 40 years. The people in the nearby town are all familiar with him but the only thing they really know about Felix are based on the outlandish tales that have told about him for years. A couple of personal realizations strike Felix and he decides to give himself a living funeral. Enlisting the help of the local funeral home owner and worker (Murray and Lucas Black) Felix sets out to bring people together to tell his story and let the townspeople tell him theirs.

Get Low is almost entirely dependent on Robert Duvall's lead performance and he more than delivers. He's equally adept at playing a stodgy old recluse and at eventually opening the character up to more emotional revelations. Murray is great as serio-comic relief and the rest of the cast (Black, Sissy Spacek, Bill Cobbs) are up to the task as well. While Get Low is a small scale film, it's themes are far from simple. The movie touches on redemption, love, suffering and forgiveness in a very affective and heart warming way.

The blu-ray features a strong audio/video transfer but Get Low isn't the type of movie to really showcase your blu-ray player. The distinct visual look director Aaron Schneider brings to the movie features a healthy dose of brown and gray colors and the transfer represents them perfectly. Being far from a big-sale film the overall look is a bit subdued and not very flashy but it does fit the movie perfectly and the transfer represents that. Likewise Get Low is an almost entirely dialogue driven affair with a healthy sprinkling of Appalachain music. The audio track is again solid but nothing fancy.

I really enjoyed Get Low. It's got a great cast, a interesting story and a fantastic lead performance from Duvall. It's themes of love, redemption and forgiveness are universal and it should appeal to anyone who likes quirky small scale dramas.

Ratings:

Movie: 4
Blu-ray: 4