Bloodworth

I love Val and Kris. And recently, Dwight has shown his acting chops so I had to see this. This is a slow moving story with mostly great acting so it was able to maintain my interest. The Brady Bloodworth character (W. Earl Brown) is over-acted in my opinion but the rest of the characters can hold your interest. You want to see what ultimately happens so you keep watching.

Watch this if you are willing to give it time but don't watch if you need car chases, or something to blow up. Mostly great cast and a few classic lines from some Hollywood legends. Beautiful scenery is just a bonus to this film. Bright, vibrant scenery adds to the overall experience of this down home Americana type film.

For better or worse, this story is very believable on many levels. Relax, turn off the phone and enjoy.

"I'm Warren, your son. When I was a boy you said you'd take me fishin, you never did. C'mon."

(2011) Bloodworth/ Provinces of Night DRAMA

Adapted from the novel ""Provinces of the Night" by William Gay, with the word "Bloodworth" as the title indicates, I have to say fans of horror may be disappointed since it has a title one could see for a scary movie, but it's really the last name of a redneck family centering on a father E. F. (Kris Kristofferson) making attempts to reconcile the family that he left behind many years ago once finding out he has cancer. Although, the music sounds great, it wasn't enough to keep this film afloat since they're several familiar nuances making it way too simplistic. The point of view is from the most educated one in the "Bloodworth" family whose inspired to be a writer, Fleming played by Reece Thompson who falls for Raven played by Hillary Duff. Also stars is Val Kilmer as the bar owner Warren Bloodworth and Dwight Yoakam as Boyd Bloodworth. Doesn't offer anything new the genre.

E.F. Bloodworth (Kristofferson) comes back to his old home in Tennessee after 40-years on the road. He left to pursue a musical career and virtually abandoned his young family. All are up in arms about his return.

This is misleading because you think the story is all about E.F. Well, it's not. It's really about his nephew Fleming (Thompson) who wants to leave the homestead too, but is trying to do it the right way, and not the way E.F. did, but to be fair, Fleming is not that conscious about it all. He just wants to do the right thing. He just wants out from a very dysfunctional family who stayed. E.F. is the background, Fleming is the real story and his story should have been developed more.

Wasted in here is Val Kilmer. Kilmer needs to find a vehicle to shine once more, but he seems content with small roles that go nowhere. Hillary Duff is a breath of fresh air, but it is Brady (Brown) who ignites (sorry for the pun, which you will understand if you see this movie) the story. His character's delivery is different, unique and solid.

To be honest we don't really get to know any of the characters. We get bits and pieces and we are left to read into things. And, because of that, we don't really care one way or the other what happens to any of them, including Fleming. We don't feel anyone's pain. And, being honest again, the story should not have shown E.F. as coming back. Just saying he came back would have been good enough as the family and others bad mouthed him anyway. We would have gotten the point. Why do I say that? Because we expected more from the Kristofferson (E.F.) character and didn't get it. Like I said, this was misleading.

Violence: Yes. Sex: No. Nudity: No. Language: Yes.

Dirty, gloomy, melo-dramatic, like many movies today, But on the other hand, its a good study into the human condition on how not to live, and how what we sew, we also reap, sometimes in full measure.

Good watching old veteran Kristofferson who may have flinched a couple of times making the movie, as he was once on that road himself.

Worth a watch.

I rented this at Redbox after seeing the 7.2 IMDb rating. I forgot to check the number of IMDb votes. With only 300+ votes, it's obvious that many of the reviewers worked on the movie or were related to the cast and crew. Their praise was the praise of a parent for a dearly loved, but completely ungifted, child. This movie basically stank. It has some big name actors and it appears to have been made with a reasonable budget, but the general acting, directing, and storyline were BAD, BAD, BAD. Did you see Winter's Bone? If so, Winter's Bone probably inspired this movie, but the inspiration was drowned by a lack of writing, acting, and directing talent. My general rule of thumb is that you can ignore an IMDb rating until you have over 1,000 votes. The first few hundred votes are anything but unbiased. I forgot to check the number of votes and wasted $1 on another Redbox stinker.