Too much of everything

A Masterpiece!

It's an amazing and heartbreaking story.

After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

This film tells the story of the residents in a small town, and what they are up to on a certain Saturday afternoon. The day is eventful, and people are all geared up for a big Saturday night.The story revolves mainly about the sheriff, a criminal, an insecure young man and a aspiring country singer. Their life story is told engagingly, and I feel very much for the poor young man who has an overbearing mother. I applaud his courage to do what he does at the end of the film. It is quite surprising to me that a small independent film can have both Chris Pine and Octavia Spencer in it, I don't quite know how the producers get such great talent to star in an independent film like this. Overall, the film is a little plain to me, but I say plain not in a bad way, as the film seems a reasonable portrayal about life in a sleepy small town.

Grows on you, really fine piece of movie-making. Watch it a few times over the years, and you'll see what I mean. This is NOT a toss off film, it warrants a far higher rating than what I'm seeing so far on IMDb.Great mixture of real life drama, comedy, making tough decisions that every moviegoer can relate to. Love the performances of all the key players, especially Chris Pine and Bre Blair... and the ones playing the 'major eff ups' do an extremely fine job, too. That's how people like that truly ARE.Music is well integrated and appealing. Ryan Craig is a first rate writer and director, not just a good one. He has a fine touch for the human in us, while finding a sterling silver lining in the cloud.

Very enjoyable film. The self-sense of foregone conclusion as to how the character's lives will unfold hangs on them like the sweaty body odor you can almost smell. These people are trapped in their littleness and can't seem to find their way out. They cling to each other like shipwreck victims clawing each other to stay afloat. ON THE OTHER HAND, the sense of community, forgiveness and acceptance of each other warms my heart living as I do in plastic image land, aka, southern California. The movie is not a downer and has a lot of upbeats, even a laugh or two. All the acting was well done; the characters all had balance, which is probably also a solid credit to the directing and editing. You won't say "wow" but you will say "that was time well spent" after watching it OR at least say "my life sucks way less than theirs".

From reading the reviews, I was expecting the standard, formulaic aspiring singer/songwriter story, loaded with mediocre songs and bad acting. As it turned out, there weren't any songs at all... well, not until the final scene. The acting was very good, IMO, and I especially liked John Hawkes (Donnie) portraying the good ol boy, ex-con troublemaker who really only wants to spend some quality time with his young child, now in the care of his ex and her lover. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, how the characters were related to one another, and their intertwined struggles for existence. No one has it easy in this small town. The mood is rather depressing and melancholy, which for me, is realistic and refreshing. It's a slice of life... nothing over the top or melodramatic. Simple people living routine and somewhat hopeless lives. There are several other story lines apart from Rhett's dilemma about moving to Nashville, and for me, this is what made this movie enjoyable. The signs inside the gas station/repair shop added a nice, down-home feel, as did the down-on-her-luck bar lady willing to turn a trick for 20 bucks.