The feature debut of director Aaron Schneider starts like a house afire, meaning it starts literally with a house on fire, and proceeds from there to shave off a thin slice of folksy baloney purportedly based on fact, something to do with a misanthropic old Tennessee hermit who throws himself a “funeral party” before his demise. Robert Duvall runs through his familiar repertoire at an uncommonly slow speed en route to an embarrassing Capra-esque climax of public confession. Bill Murray as the needy, greedy funeral director is still Bill Murray. And Sissy Spacek as a former flame of the protagonist brings to her every scene her special gift of being completely (as the Buddhists have it) present in the moment. One of America’s shamefully neglected natural resources. With Lucas Black, Bill Cobbs, Gerald McRaney. (2010) — Duncan Shepherd
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