An action-packed slog

Am I Missing Something?

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Watch something else. There are very few redeeming qualities to this film.

There are two fundamental flaws to this film. It is really slow and never picks up pace, and the director seeks to fill the gaps by annoyingly loud mood music that serves no purpose whatsoever.This is a great pity as it is a good story, the actors are excellent and the locations, whilst minimal are stunning. I think the film could have been better lit but that would have been no big thing until you add the lack of pace and monotone sound track. Did I say it was annoying? I mean really annoying.

One of those movies where the trailer looks so promising but then you are so disappointed when you watch the whole movie. This movie joins in with shows like true detective. All people are so sad all the time. They are all somehow broken inside. This can be interesting with the right story and good execution but that is what's missing here. I actually like when actors don't enunciate everything crystal clear but in this movie the line delivery of the men is just plain mumbling. I also have no problem when there are longer scenes where no one speaks but then I should either see some development in the characters by watching their body language or mimic or what they do. But here you have scenes that seem as if the director had to fill time which seems very odd because the movie is very short in the first place.I like Benthal but that this movie fails to deliver anything is not the fault of the cast but of the choices the director makes.

The acting is great, the optics are 1A, the editing : to the point, directing class A not a second of thinking getting one more beer . BUT the script leaves you in the desert : pointless and senseless . If you are up for a good story keep off. Otherwise a terrific movie well worth the time to watch

Problem with small towns is everybody leaves 'em. Thus small town stories tend to be based on romanticized memories (be it good or bad) from the point of city slickers. And since most folks reside in giant metropolises, it becomes difficult to pronounce judgement on this evaporating way of life.Sweet Virginia is one such film beast. It is both good and bad. A good film, about bad people, but chiefly it is about America.Set in murky Alaska, but filled with soft, southern accented characters, it takes place in a tiny, forgotten place, where people struggle for money, hide their histories, wear baseball caps, drive pickups, move at a snail's pace, and settle their matters in a violent fashion.At the centre of a nifty noire tangle is an uncomfortable buddy-buddy relationship between an aw-shucks former rodeo star trying unsuccessfully to live a low-key life as a motel owner, and a troubled, snaky hit man. Jon Bernthal is terrific as the reluctant good guy, who innocently befriends the dark stranger in town - a perfectly tense and edgy Christopher Abbott. We know this won't end well, but that is not the point. This is less about the resolution and more about the journey."Sweet Virginia" dares to peek under the covers of a sleepy place rampant with familiarity but teeming with excruciating loneliness. One that usually keeps it's secrets well buried. Usually.