Undertow (2004)

Talented filmmaking from director of Pianapple Express, with a disturbing underlying nerve right from the start. The story evolves around two brothers growing up in a poor, rural farming environment in the southern part of Georgia. Troubles comes when the convicted brother of the father of the boys turned up unexpectedly, looking for some hidden gold coins.It's a well told story, a southern tragedy, with great acting from the entire cast. The underlying terror of the past is haunting in this piece of good film making. The story is perfectly told, but if something's lacking here, it's the final pull of interest. But it's beautiful, sad and heart wrenching from a lesser fortunate part of USA.Well worth a watch, if you don't expect a masterpiece, but a good film.

6.7 IMDb rating? Seriously? It must be getting one compulsory extra rating point for each A-List actor/actress that was in it, and half point for Kristin Stewart. This would definitely have a 4 - 4.5 rating without the cast boost. I also need to make a point of remembering the director, editor, and whoever did the score, so I can avoid their movies in the future. The movie somehow managed to keep my interest long enough to watch the whole thing, but only just barely.And what's with the totally bizarre ending?! Flashing back and forth between the boy in the hospital bed with his grandpa (with tons of rouge on his cheeks) talking about his grandmother's cooking, to his brother standing in the hallway in a rather odd stance and holding a green balloon for some reason, to boy #1 fully dressed and wading in the ocean. Then the brother pops his balloon for no particular reason, and has no visible reaction to popping it. Fade to black. Huh??? Would've made sense if it was just the grandfather talking to the boy or boys.

...that, if nothing else, confirms that auteur David Gordon Green is a director to watch. "Undertow" is a somewhat picaresque tale, of a stripe labeled Southern Gothic these days, that concerns itself with the lives of two generations of brothers, one the parent to the other. The Terrence Malick (one of the film's producers) influence is apparent, along with that of Mark Twain, Miguel de Cervantes and the like. The story is a simple one of Good betrayed and pursued by Evil, with a resolution that may leave some viewers cold, if not befuddled, but as is the case in so many similar tales, it's the journey itself and the lessons learned (or not) along the way that is the meat of things, and Green serves up a mostly satisfying meal. The acting is quite good, especially from the young leads. Jamie "Jumper" Bell is superb, proving himself once again as an immensely talented young actor with a long and successful career ahead of him, while relative newcomer Devon Alan shows good chops as Bell's younger brother. Dermot "Living in Oblivion" Mulroney and Josh "Poseidon" Lucas, as the boys' fathers, ably demonstrate their abilities with excellent performances of characters notably against type. The supporting ensemble features a number of recognizable faces, including a very brief appearance by Bill "Deliverance" McKinney ("Squeal like a pig!"), although unfortunately Kristen "Panic Room" Stewart and Shiri "Swimfan" Appleby don't get near enough screen time. Longtime Green collaborator Tim "Sex Drive" Orr handles the camera chores with great finesse and an eye for the corroded beauty of downhome Alabama. The score by Philip "Koyaanisqatsi" Glass is appropriately pastoral and foreboding as required, not his strongest work but quite serviceable. Likewise, the editing by Green collaborators Steven Gonzales and Zene Baker is good, though in my estimation marred by seemingly random freezes and fades that practically scream, "Cut to commercial!" Still, whatever minor quibbles I have, "Undertow" is a worthy rental, if not purchase, and a commendable alternative to typical Hollywood fare.

David Gordon Green explores the story in Undertow with an intention to tell the story, but there's also an intention to explore the spaces his actors inhabit, or run to, or from, and occasionally with the lyricism of a grungy street poet. This isn't to say the film is pretentious; it can be enjoyed by those who just want a good, harrowing chase movie. Yet it asks a little more for an audience complacent with the norm in Hollywood, used to the conflict being simplistic with respect to the characterizations. Its presentation calls attention to a director attempting to find the thematic beats through what could otherwise be a conventional ride. It's also no mistake to make the connection to films of the 70s, or specifically Terence Malick's austere visual approach; Malick is credited as producer, so it's bound to have some informal mark of his own somewhere.It's really a tragedy of the rural family, where a single father (Mulroney) raising two kids (Bell and Alan), the older one something of a troublemaker, constantly brought in to the cops. When the father's brother (a perfect antagonist in Lucas) gets out of prison and comes to visit, it's more than a friendly family call; greed and vengeance bring him there, and a horrible incident occurs that sends the two children running away, now with their uncle in tow. He's after some valuable old gold coins- family heirlooms or sacred Mexican lot, depending on what story is to be believed- and nothing will stop him. Meanwhile, the two kids (the younger of the two pretty sick most often) are left to their own devices, looking for work, hiding in junkyards, or with the help of fellow underworld travelers.Aside from that, which is the basic plot, a lot of Undertow sways between tense and taut drama and action, with a couple of really visceral fights and bits of violence, and an understated character study. There's the performances that feel right in the thick of it, with Bell giving it all in a breakout role. But it's just... hard to explain the sensibility that gives this an edge over other dramas out there. The setting is one thing, where for the most part (with a few exceptions) Green doesn't succumb to total clichés with these southern hobos and backwoods folk (or, at the least, there's a humanism caught by having what would appear to be non-actors in roles like convenience store clerks and tow-truck drivers). And also it's the cinematography, which is clear and cool and hand-held for some subjective impact, plus the eerie, unusual score by Philip Glass.All of these punctuations on a story that is dark and compelling are abound, but it's also this bond between the two brothers, and the memories that they share and how memories in general work into the narrative, that score Green success. It's about mood as much as plot, about sorrow and anger and fear and all these things, and it's never something to scoff as too artsy-fartsy. It's just about right.