Get Low

Watching Get Low is like listening to an elderly relative tell a long, entertaining story. It's only after it's over that you may realize it didn't make a lot of sense, but you may be so charmed by the experience you let it slide.

Directed by Aaron Schneider, the small, low-key film tells the story of one Felix Bush, a hermit in 1930s America (where exactly, I don't know--I'm guessing Missouri). As played by Robert Duvall, Felix is a larger-than-life figure, sporting a voluminous beard and inspiring bogeyman stories that have frightened more than one generation of the local townspeople.

After a one-time friend dies, Duvall gets it into this head that he's going to die, but he wants to clear the air first, so he decides to have funeral for himself before his death. When a preacher (Gerald McRaney) gives him no satisfaction, he is approached by the local funeral parlor, owned by the entrepreneurial Bill Murray, who sees nothing but the greasy wad of money that Duvall has. "Hermit money," he says, admiringly.

Of course, Duvall has a backstory that will be revealed in its own sweet time. A widow, Sissy Spacek, has a history with him ("We had a go," Duvall tells Murray, prompting him to nearly drive off the road). A black preacher, Bill Cobbs, holds some key information, but telling it too early would end the movie, so he hangs on to it. In the end we hear the story of why Duvall became a hermit, as does the whole town. If anything, the ending is a model of efficiency.

The good in this film can be traced entirely to the two main performances: Duvall and Murray. Duvall, who has specialized lately in wizened old coots, settles into Felix's skin like a warm bath. He's all flickering eyes and measured cadences. Mostly he speaks monosyllabically, but as Murray notes, he can be articulate when he wants to be. There's a presence about him that gives the film more oomph that it deserves. I'm guessing Duvall will be in the hunt for another Oscar this year, even if its for career approbation.

Murray's character is more interesting and more circumspect, which may go hand in hand. He's from Chicago, and has sold everything from horses to cars, so there's more than a little intrigue as to why he's ended up in a hick town as the funeral director. He's mercenary, but not without compassion. And of course it's Bill Murray, who can do more with a deadpan expression than any actor since Buster Keaton. You can hear echoes of Peter Venkman when he apologizes to a baby for swearing.

Schneider, who edits as well as directs, is not a particularly visual storyteller. Aside from an arresting opening image of a burning house, with a man on fire leaping out of a window, Get Low does not impress in its technical virtuosity. The climax is particularly clumsy, with a tight closeup on Duvall and obligatory cuts to the crowd. At times the editing seemed slap-dash and amateurish.

But on the whole I liked this film, probably because I liked the characters. It was a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.