Get Low
Directed: Aaron Schneider
Starring: Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, Bill Murray and Lucas Black.

‘Get Low' is keeping a low-key profile for a film that packs a big punch – slipping into theatres quietly with a very unassuming title, but with a very talented cast.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed this and how funny I found a story that centres on one man and his (potentially) impending doom.

Felix Bush (Duvall) is not dying, but after 40 years of a hermit lifestyle in the forest with friends dying around him, he realises the end may be any day now. Set in the 1930s, in a small town full of gossip and rumours, Felix has many stories floating around about him. Once and for all he wants to come clean with his story.

With the help of Quinn Funerals (run by Black and Murray) he wants to hold a funeral party before he dies, inviting anyone with a story to tell, but it is he who has the most interesting story of them all.

This being Aaron Schneider's debut feature, he plays it safe with a relatively straight forward story line, throwing in a few kinks along the way. The story begins leaving many questions unanswered until the end when Felix shares the true life he has led. But don't expect some shocking revelation a la ‘The Sixth Sense' type films.

Expect more a natural progression of a man's life, filled with intrigue and questions that build and unfold, as they would if you were meeting this man for the first time.

Duvall and Spacek may have appeared last together in box-office bomb ‘Four Holidays', but have always showed a real charisma and chemistry on screen.

The veteran actors relationship echo the storyline, after a chance meeting on the street between the pair leaves questions in your mind and gradually unfolds. Spacek in her older years is continuing to play more demure characters, but still lets her emotional colours shine through when it counts.

Duvall may also not be the violent killer of his ‘Godfather' years but it's the subtly and depth in his character that makes him fascinating to watch.

Murray, as always, turns on the comic charm to balance the comedy.

Here he is in a more Wes Anderson style role as the quirky funeral director, driven to hard times and looking for an edge to recoup costs.

As he says, 'Why is it everyone is dying, just not in this town?”

For a film about dying, there were a lot of laughs here. It is a quirky story that suits the quirky characters in small town America, layered with some heavy themes of life, death and redemption.