Things That Hang from Trees

Oh my gosh what a terrible film. The dialogie is atrocious, and none of the characters are the least bit interesting. All the performances are deadpan and lack any vitality. The plot is garbage, and the kid they cast in the lead has little to no acting talent whatsoever. Yes, the townspeople are eccentric, but unfortunately it doesn't translate into entertaining folk. They're either extremely annoying or entirely unbelievable. I have no idea what anyone associated with the making of this travesty was thinking. It's hard to believe they didn't realize they were making the dullest most simpleminded movie ever created. By the midway point I was just angry about how stupid everything was unfolding. It honestly just got worse and worse. If I was forced to find a positive, I'd say there were some very beautiful classic cars in the background of some shots. A putrid aberration that will only nauseate viewers with an appreciation for fine cinema.

An extremely dark narrative about a young boy & his strange relationship with his mum (Deborah Kara Unger) who operates a sexy lingerie shop in a conservative southern township that clearly doesn't want her. (It doesn't help her situation that she models the nighties she sells in the windows storefront) Everything is tricky from the start for the young boy. He's bullied continuously & is frozen blank with fear of all that surrounds him. (Including the sickening memories of his estranged & deranged father the part played expertly by Ray McKinnon) The complications for the boy & his mother aren't simply resolved, & so the future of these characters isn't clear. The ending is enjoyably ambiguous & because of its general strangeness it will earn its spot in the genre of the cult film.

An asthmatic kid in a town populated by dysfunctional individuals, beat up by the local bully, harassed by a religious busybody, befriended by a wino, ignored by a mother more interested in running her sexy lingerie shop, and an absent father that comes back to haunt the family. Mix those elements together, stir some uneven acting, pepper with dialogue right from typical Hollywood dregs and serve with an expressionless kid better suited for a poker table. The result of such a recipe cannot be appetizing. It isn't. Nonetheless there is a plot. It emerges slowly and ends in a climatic drama. Too bad the story gets clobbered by a sloppy directorial debut.

This film is a bore. i like unconventional, foreign and art films, but they have to have a character or story element that holds some kind of interest. this lacks any interesting element or character. Unger is strong, and her character could have saved this film, but alas, it just doesn't happen. for me there is nothing worse than an art film that is filled with clichés. weak effort.

I guess the biggest problem was the script, but it's the director's responsibility to recognize those problems and turn clichés into original and interesting characters, or dispense with them. when the boys father shows up and is a nasty a**hole, it's just another eyeball rolling moment. This film is loaded with them. although it looks good and is shot well enough, the story-telling is just amateurish.

The 5th and so far only worthy film I've seen this year in the Atlanta Film Festival. The story follows a a scared stiff boy that's too young and too traumatized to understand the bent characters that are harassing him. His life is a super seedy southern milieu world that grows seedier with every character he meets.

Best of all the film has an ending that as far as I'm concerned is new to cinema!

This movie was made with heart and has all the potential to become a cult classic. Especially since its far too eccentric to get major distribution. Oh, and a half naked Deborah Unger helps.