Get Low

Set in rural 1930s Tennessee and apparently loosely based on a true tale, this drama has backwoods hermit Felix Bush (Robert Duvall) emerging from a self-imposed 40-year exile to plan his own funeral party. The novelty is that Felix intends to be there himself, along with anyone with a story to tell about him. Frank Quinn (the reliably laconic Bill Murray) is the hard-up local funeral director charged with the job of planning the bizarre bash. But, slowly, he and his young assistant Buddy (a likeable Lucas Black) realise that Felix doesn't want to hear stories, he wants to tell his own. First-time director Aaron Schneider cut his teeth as a cinematographer, so it's no wonder Get Low is so meticulously and beautifully shot. It also benefits from charming (if extravagant) performances from a pair of seasoned performers who are clearly enjoying themselves. But all this effort seems more than a little out of kilter with a sentimental and hokey plot that frankly wouldn't disgrace an episode of The Waltons.