The Living

This movie is a superb combination of thriller and socially conscious film-making. I've never really seen a film that is as good. The acting is great all around. The characters are nuanced. The problem of domestic violence is subtly depicted. The courage of the filmmakers is obvious from the start. I highly recommend this film. My one reservation concerns the depiction of the killer as southern. But the portrayal of people wiling to forgive is truly amazing and impressive. So, I agree totally with this other review: I saw this movie at a screening in Boston MA sponsored by Emerson college. I was impressed with the content of the film and how Jack Bryan the writer/director incorporates his characters and intertwines their lives into the dark depths of alcoholism and domestic violence. His choice of cast members was right on and I particularly liked his portrayal of the killer played by Chris Mulkey. I was surprised by the ending but not disappointed. This is a must see movie. I hope to have the opportunity to experience more works from this group of talented writers, directors, and producers along with all members who made this film what it is.

Watched it because of love indie films. I finished the movie, wondering "how did I end up wasting my time with this one?" I am not a movie reviewer but I just simply had to put my two bits in on this one! I hated it. Low budget, bad acting, poor directing, bad sound, bad picture. Yuck!

Make-up was horrible. How did this get on my list of movies to watch?

I sat through 90 minutes of wondering if a plot would thicken or a twist would come. Never. The movie didn't improve from the first minute. It just went on and on, into nothing...

I don't even know who the main characters were. Not one of the actors stood out as anyone to follow in the story. Not one of the actors showed any sign of acting ability. I will try and make sure to never watch anything with any of the actors that were in this film or even involved in the production. I just wish they could all be blacklisted for me. Spare us all, please.

I first met writer/director Jack Bryan at the Tallgrass Film Festival during a showing of Yojimbo. I ended up seeing his film "The Living" when it premiered that weekend. I was excited to see it, Jack seemed like a cool guy and I love Fran Kranz, but I had no idea I was in for such a treat. I'm not really sure if treat is the right word to use, this film is a lot of things, but it might be a little too dark to be considered a treat. The performances, writing, direction, and production design are all flawless. The story follows Teddy, an alcoholic that wakes up one morning after blacking out to discover that he had beat his wife. Fran Kranz plays as Teddy and gives the best performance of his career. Cast as the comedic relief in Cabin in the Woods and Dollhouse, it was refreshing to see him playing a serious role. Somehow, he's able to make a character that you're inclined to hate from the start lovable. While his brother in law is on a quest to hire a hit-man to kill him, Teddy is doing everything he can to make things up to his wife. Chris Mulkey plays as the hit-man and does an excellent job at being horrifying. Killing is something that comes casually to him. The rest of the cast put in excellent performances as well. If the movie comes to your area, it's more than worth the price of admission.

'The Living' is about unintended consequences arising from difficult decisions clouted by complicated personalities and troubled minds. It is a nice indie dark movie, with several highlights but some compromising flaws.

Acting is surprisingly good, with actors punching way above their weight. This his the highlight of the movie. The slow scenes with agonizing seconds of silences give them a dark and deep vibe, and the actors nail it, looking natural and very comfortable on screen.

The context of the story plot is very cliché, however, as it revolves about the struggles of a battered woman and her alcoholic husband who loves-her-even-though-he-hit-her.

Strangely, the lack of character development isn't that much detrimental on 'The Living' as it would be in many other movies, as the focus quickly shifts to the mental state and how the characters process the situation they got themselves involved with, instead of just re-telling a worn-out and over-used simple story line.

Finally, editing seems to be hurried up, as it is the case of so many otherwise promising indie productions, unfortunately. As I mentioned, many individual scenes are harrowing, deep and engaging, but the transitions don't work that well, which is frustrating.

I give 'The Living' a 6/10 score, realizing I'm averaging some very good marks with poor ones. Having so much quality disparity is what, in my opinion, makes the difference between some other reviews here that swing from critical 3s to glowing 9s and 10s.

In rural Pennsylvania, Teddy (Fran Kranz) is beating up on his wife Molly (Jocelin Donahue) again. Her weak-kneed brother Gordon (Kenny Wormald) won't do much of anything. Gordon is browbeaten by their mother Angela (Joelle Carter) for his weakness. His work friend suggests hiring Howard (Chris Mulkey), a killer from Mississippi. As Gordon and Howard drive back to Pennsylvania, Howard's violence causes Gordon to reconsider.

There are two ways to consider these characters. They can be seen as complicated and deeply flawed humanity. They can also be seen as wrongly written and pathetically unredeemable. Molly's attachment to Teddy can be very disturbing but it's also not unreasonable. Plenty of abused women defend their abusers. Gordon's pathetic character can be very annoying. At the end of the movie, I wish that this was made by the Coen brothers. They would have injected some comedy and pathos which would make this tragedy somehow humorous and more compelling. I don't know much about this filmmaker. He doesn't have it.