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Undertow
This is the second film I've seen by critical darling David Gordon Green, and I will not be seeing a third. Green is undeniably talented, but his interests don't interest me.
Green has often been compared to Terence Malick, and while I thought the comparison inapt for All the Real Girls, it suits Undertow (on which, appropriately enough, Malick is one of the producers). Green cares little about character and even less about plot. In his films, it's all about mood. Girls explored the pains and pleasures of small town life for people coming of age. Undertow works the more colorful territory of Southern gothic, and because the events are (potentially) so much more dramatic, the film is all the more maddening when experiences of conflict, jeopardy and violence are reduced to just moments in the flow of a cinematic tone poem. If you didn't mind the way World War II combat was handled in The Thin Red Line, this may be a film for you.
The film revolves around two sets of brothers: the adults, John and Deel (Dermot Mulroney and Josh Lucas), and John's sons, Tim and Chris (Devon Allen and Jamie Bell, a long way from Billy Elliot). The first 20-25 minutes establish the characters of John (cryptically stern), Tim (mysteriously ill, in a way that the audience quickly learns may be self-induced for reasons never explained), and Chris (rebellious and horny).
Then Uncle Deel appears bearing Josh Lucas' trademark glower. Ancient conflicts resurface, followed by violence and a pursuit that lasts the rest of the movie but never feels terribly urgent. New characters are introduced and often disappear with as little explanation as the abundant freeze-frames that seem to have become Green's preferred way of ending a scene. There is a McGuffin consisting of gold coins, which, according to family legend, were given to Tim and Chris's grandfather by Charon, the ferryman of the River Styx (no, I'm not making this up). The film has a resolution of sorts, but it feels neither earned nor satisfying.
Undertow has received glowing reviews from respectable critics, including Roger Ebert; so obviously Green is connecting to some viewers in a way that escapes me. I appreciate that the arthouse circuit provides an outlet for directors with such a singular vision, but it's not one I'm interested in seeking out again.
M.
"Most people never have to face the fact that, at the right time and the right place, they're capable of anything." -- Chinatown
"What kind of movies would there be if everyone in them had to do what we thought they should do?" -- Roger Ebert
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