Part warm comedy, part bleak tragedy, part hallucinatory vision, this film paints an irresistible and touchingly human portrait of a Southern writer's life and it's milieu. Rural and small-town scenes and characters are rendered with loving attention to detail and respect for the rich eccentricities and quirky oddities of the main character and his family, friends and townsfolk. Every role brilliantly acted, every scene beautifully photographed, and as an added bonus the author's first-person narrative voice-over comes chock-full of fascinating samples of original poetry and poetic prose.
Produced by Debra Winger, who also plays a major speaking role, written and directed by Arliss Howard, who also plays the lead character, their love for this story and these characters literally oozes from each frame, each word of dialog, each piece of soundtrack music. Anyone who finds inspiration in wild free-form poetry will fall in love with this film. It made me laugh out loud, sob till I had to grab a tissue, and think to myself as the credits rolled, "THIS is what film-making is all about!" If your taste runs towards literate, character-centered stories and you are not put off by surrealist visuals and poetry, I urge you to SEE THIS FILM!
Produced by Debra Winger, who also plays a major speaking role, written and directed by Arliss Howard, who also plays the lead character, their love for this story and these characters literally oozes from each frame, each word of dialog, each piece of soundtrack music. Anyone who finds inspiration in wild free-form poetry will fall in love with this film. It made me laugh out loud, sob till I had to grab a tissue, and think to myself as the credits rolled, "THIS is what film-making is all about!" If your taste runs towards literate, character-centered stories and you are not put off by surrealist visuals and poetry, I urge you to SEE THIS FILM!