Union Bound

I don't know how this film is receiving high star reviews. It's extremely boring, the acting is stiff and uninteresting. Union soldiers in dire staits needing to escape imprisonment, resorting to extreme measures to do so, would not be so clean looking. That southern bell who encountered them and offered them food is full of botox and plastic surgery, not to mention her southern accent and speech are very off-putting. All the high reviews of this film have to be from people who were involved with its production.

This film is not about Hollywood Hype but has a quality of production with a story that will impress. While delivering great entertainment this film is based on the true diary of a Union soldier that finds himself imprisoned behind enemy lines.

New friends, new allies and a new purpose to live gives the main character the will to go on. Through many tests and trials he learns that freedom is never free. In order to give freedom to the slaves a price beyond measure is paid by so many.

Union Bound is not washed in the typical movie clichés of filth, language or poor hygiene that most Hollywood films have. Most war films would have us believe that people lived in filth and ate garbage.

War was not pretty but people had pride in their uniform and respect was important to them. Where most script writers cannot finish a sentence without a curse word this film is true to its time.

No it is not a 50 Million dollar tax right off Hollywood production but rather a quality film about real characters played by real people.Certainly a film that history buffs will enjoy....perhaps even learn something they never knew before.

I found viewing this movie an enjoyable experience and liked the personal story aspect of one man's trials during the Civil War unfolded. It is not a typical battlefield portrayed in the usual war movie. Instead, this film focused on how people were challenged and chose to deal with issues during this difficult period of time in our country's history. While all the actors did a credible portrayal of characters, Tank Jones provided an amazing and emotional portrayal of the slave. The costuming was very authentic for the period and the cinematography was wonderful. Kudos to the writer, director, producers and crew for portraying Joseph Hoover's diary in such an authentic way.

Two reasons why I went to go see this: one, my cousin Dane worked on the music, and two, I like history.

So what did I think? Time for the review! The story takes place during the Civil War. Two Union soldiers are captured by the Confederates. They are taken to a prison camp and escape shortly after. This is where I will leave off.

The story is based on a true event that was written by the main character, in his diary.

The characters are interesting, especially one that is humorous.

This is a low budget film, so I knew going in that it wouldn't be like the quality of a Marvel film. But the acting was decent, and some scenes did hit you with emotion and humor.

One of my only complaints is that when we watched it in the theater, the dialogue volume was kinda low, so it was hard to hear what they were saying at points.

My Final Thoughts: For a low budget film, it wasn't bad. Dane did a great job with the music, which really did impact the moments of a scene and show the Southern part of America; it fits. The action was decent and the story was good.

I thought it gave us a view of life outside of the battlefield and major troop movements we've seen in other movies/docs/shows of the period. It really focuses on what happens if you're not lucky to survive or be killed in action, but are caught by the enemy. The audio and soundtrack were good and not overdone. The cinematography and directing varies by shot a little but captures views of NC we haven't seen before on the big screen. Good color in most shots. The editing needed to be tightened-up a little and could have dropped 10+ minutes of long hangs on shots after the action/point was made to move the movie along a little faster. The main 3 actors as Joseph Hoover, Thomas J. Ryan, and Jim Young were believable, especially Tank Jones as Jim Young, very emotional performance. Trish Cook as Ms. Macintosh wasn't really all that part could have been, just reciting lines and not becoming. Overall worth the time if the period interests you. Feels like the first chapter of a set (I'd see).