Tenkiller

A great debut film about small town Oklahoma, poverty, heartache and boredom - and the hope and joy that can emerge from these more negative elements. The film drifts along on a skeletal plot about Leon (Ian Walker), an angry eighteen-year-old boy running afoul of his mom's unhinged boyfriend/machine part factory co-worker Dalton (James Allen Pershing), a conflict that unsurprisingly culminates in violence. But Tenkiller is more interested in the slices of life happening in-between its narrative, emphasizing simple small town happiness and hardship in equal measure. Beautifully shot with magnificent performances and a soundtrack from breakout band Chat Pile.

Someone mentioned that the plot was skeletal which sums it up nicely. Character development is close to nonexistent creating huge holes in continuity and prompting the viewer to wonder, "Why should we care?" They are miserable people living in poverty with violence used as the first way to solve a problem. This has been done so many times before and done so much better, why this?

Loved the setting though. That area of the state is beautiful. It would have been nice to see some of the historic buildings or incorporate that street signs are in Cherokee and English. It really is a unique location.

The videography is beautiful and it was such fun to see familiar Oklahoma locations!!! We really loved watching all the "non-professional" actors, especially the kids. The bad guys were fun to hate, and now we've been introduced to the music of Chat Pile and their lead singer/actor, what a trip!!! We loved the movie's small town feel, the kids working at all their various small town jobs, and the glimpse of Oklahoma lake party life. Finally, we appreciate that the story had a near happy ending, at least with the possibility of redemption for the family members!! Ready for more films from Blood Relative!!!

Overall I did enjoy this movie. That being said, of course it's flawed. Whether you get something out of this film or not really depends on what you're expecting and what you want. No doubt this had some really beautiful shots. I don't know if the two main stars of this film are actually brothers or not but they definitely worked off each other well and were believable and fairly talented for a low budget movie. It seems whoever shot the movie really knew what they were doing and was able to capture an artsy coming of age feel despite the hurdles.

That being said, the hurdles were significant. Some of the adult actors weren't ideal, the music wasn't for me and it wasn't a very new or unique story. The biggest let down of this movie was the climax. I won't spoil anything but what should have been a big moment was too ambitious for the budget and talent available and it really fell flat for me.

I don't rate the overall quality or mass appeal, just my own enjoyment which gets a generous seven.

A movie that looks at the rough, votive lives of people in America and their attempts to find joy and meaning. Tenkiller lake becomes a character itself, a backdrop to moments of touching intimacy and startling violence.

The soundtrack is getting a huge amount of hype right now due to the involvement of sudden heavy metal darlings Chat Pile, who offer a depraved tracklist of industrial clanking and screams, as well as a scene stealing performance from lead singer Raygun Busch. I imagine a lot of people will find the movie off the back of the band and I hope they like what they see.

A confident debut from the Choates and hopefully the first of many.