Barracuda

But that twangy country music and the dancing without rhythm rednecks was too much to bear, so FF was a blessing. It also came in handy with the bar scene with those two derelicts trying to make a move on Sinaloa and her sister who did the right thing for a change and sent these two packing. Sometimes these writer just cannot make a movie without certain idiocies incorporated into them.

I do however agree that the writers might have suffered from writers block when it came to the last 1/3 of this flick. I understand how Sinaloa would despise her half-sister's mother, she was a Biotch with a capital B. But the fight and strangulation was a bit much. And unexpected, I was more in line with something that would awaken Merle from being walked over by everyone in her immediate circle, and especially her mother followed by the gold digging fiance Raul who was more concerned about the finances and not her mental health.

Good movie, but did have some let downs in the writing department.

It was a pleasure to see Allison Tolman (Fargo TV season 1) cast in this little indie gem. Although this time I have to give all the props to Sophie Reid with his wild and visceral character. So in the movie, this two sisters grew up in different places and now are meeting for the first time, sharing memories of their peculiar musician father, now deceased. The problem is that as both getting to know each other, you feel some sort of mortal suspense and even danger going on. Mainly because of Sinaloa (Sophie Reid) who has a mysterious behavior that ranges from sweetness to aggressiveness. (Maybe savageness is the best definition. You'll see.) On the other hand, there are moments where she looks quite adorable, like when she is performing gigs at pubs and streets. I wrap it up saying that the movie is all about the psychology of the characters that take us into an uncomfortable territory with some well-placed surprises in the end.

The acting was good as was the camera work. The directing was also good. The film while very professional was very weird. It failed to capture excitement and frankly, it could have been switched off at any time. It appears to have been written by someone with a sick distorted mind. If you do weird sick, this is a film fore you.

I have always enjoyed those Flannery O'Connor stories where a visitor "changes things." So, too, is writer/co-director Jason Courtland's (with co-director Julia Halperin) Barracuda, about a young woman, Sinaloa (Sophie Reid), who visits her half sister, Merle (Alison Tolman) in Austin for the first time. Sinaola does change things but not as fast as you might expect nor as clearly as I would like.

However, I may ask too much because family connections are never straightforward, dealing as we do with layers of biology and experience. In Barracuda (the fish depicted on her dad's guitar and an apt metaphor for her), Sinaloa can barely be accepted into the family, even with her talent and knowledge of her deceased dad's music.

Country, bluegrass, and folk music are interwoven with the slow disclosure of the legacies, e.g., dad was "a drunk, a drug addict and a cheater." She's suspected of falsely claiming kinship or arriving to cut herself into the inheritance, which could be considerable given the parcel of land the family owns. Yet, really, most of them, especially her half-sister, are just trying to figure out why she's there and where she's going.

The film is successful not letting us deeply onto Sinaloa's psyche except for a flash of her occasional discomfort at family interactions or Merle's suspicious and unlikable mother, Patricia (JoBeth Williams). Slowly, very slowly, Sinaloa's true character and intentions become clearer. Most everything relates to her exclusion from the family--her resolution is dramatic but not surprising.

No surprise that Bruce Beresford is a producer of this film, he the director of Tender Mercies, a milder rendition of this film's underlying family disabilities. Like bloodline and family in real life, this thriller has few certainties, exacerbated by the visitor who changes things.

If you're patient, you'll enjoy one of the year's oddest and most perplexing indies.

Talk about a wild ride of a heckava movie! This is a story about people who they think is good might often be the ones that they think is best to find out when they think they is not in the same goodness form of the people in the other room. The director guy is a new guy that has him some good ideas about the girl in his movie. who is a great acting girl! My mom and I watched this movie together on the last Friday and she did not see it all but says that it was good. It be the sacry movie for all of the movie and in the end. Please watch with your lights on!