I'm a huge Drea de Matteo fan so it was pretty natural that I go see this at the Tribeca Film Festival. I will have a formal review for it later on but WOW. Incredible movie. I really hope it eventually comes out on DVD. It was excellent.
sharecool! can't wait to read ur review
shareMy wife and I just saw Walker. I posted a review (not live yet), and am dropping it in here as well. Not sure if it's OK to post it here too, but worse case the mods delete it. May contain spoilers.
*** MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS ***
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The title character, recently unemployed but charming as hell rogue (Jason Patric) and father of two little girls, gets an ultimatum from his shrill ex-wife (Drea de Matteo): The girls for $5,000. Wasn't it illegal to sell people in the 1950's? Never mind that. Seems Patric's out of luck until a stranger (Sam Shepherd) rolls into town (small mining town on the downslide) and offers to buy his beloved pet, Brute, a really fine looking dog. Refusing to give up his faithful companion, who is constantly by his side even at the local bar, the desperate Patric does get involved in Shepherd's racket, illegal dog-fighting, to make the money he needs to get his kids away from his skank of an ex. Hmm -- selling children, OK. Fighting dogs, no...
Don't mistake the dry humor, we liked it quite a lot actually. Patric carries the first half or so. It's got a real boy/man-and-his-dog feel that we found endearing. We all know he can do understated and majorly intense better than most anyone, but who knew he could do mischievous so well? And you see growth in the character as he makes tough decisions. De Matteo I could do without, which actually means she did fine. Her character isn't supposed to be likable. Shepherd's an oily bastard, like the devil in a leisure suit. Nicely done there. The rogue's not getting any from his ex, unless you're one of those who thinks being slapped and yelled at is foreplay, so naturally he has a love interest (KaDee Strickland), who besides being pretty tries to steer her man down her idea of the right path. Rounding out the names is Bruce Dern as Patric's father. Sort of a window dressing part, but he does it well. The dog scenes? My wife averted her eyes once or twice and I had to cringe, but such things should affect you. If not, something's wrong with you. I don't know much about the technical aspects, but looks like they used fast action or something so it's not overly graphic, but still real enough to tug at the ol' heartstrings.
Anyway, good movie. Anything that leaves us talking afterwards and asking "What Would You Do?" is good. Since we can't give it an 8.5, have to round up to 9: Unique storyline, great job by Patric and Shepherd, gotta love the dog. Recommended for all fans of Patric, Shepherd or de Matteo, folks who like dilemma flicks, and anyone who loves dogs. That should cover just about everybody. Saw it in NYC/Tribeca, but expect to see it picked up and shared with the rest of the world and we'll see it again when it makes it down to us in Mo. A word to the producers: With the DVD, add something about the dogs, actors playing with the dogs, how you go about staging the fights or something. Of course, they weren't hurt -- probably treated like canine kings -- but it's still nice to have assurances. Besides who doesn't like cute animal footage?
I was an extra at the final dog fight scene, shot in a steamy airport hangar in Camden, South Carolina. Trust me when I say the dogs were treated well! Better than the extras, for sure.
The dogs had an air conditioned van to retire to between shoots. The extras had folding chairs in an open-air side hangar.
There was always a humane society rep on hand to see that the dogs were well treated.
There were two pairs of identical dogs, so that the crew could keep shooting without working the dogs longer than the regs allow (the same way they use identical twin children to play single parts).
The blood is of course fake. The fighting was in reality the dogs playing together on set. It is made to look like fighting by cutting camera angles, using camera motion, and dubbing vicious snarling, ripping, etc. sounds in post.
Don't get me wrong about the treatment of the extras. We were well fed, and were not exposed to the heat of the set for as much time as the crew was. Between shots, they made sure we had water. And there were paramedics on hand. Despite the discomfort, I absolutely loved the experience!
My daughter worked on this film. It sounds like a movie I would actually go to the theater to see...a rare thing. It will be very sad if it only comes out in DVD. I can't believe it was not picked up by a studio. I can't believe the so-so reviews considering it is a gem in a sea of boring, disappointing, and repetitive garbage shown at the theaters. What is wrong with this country?
shareHaven't you figured it out yet?
In this country's cinematic industry the only cash stream is from mainstream. If there hasn't been a successful variant of the story before, Hollywood isn't going to "risk" money on it.
There are of course rare exceptions that prove this rule. But at this point in its life, Walker Payne isn't likely to be one of them.
my cousin and my uncle were extras in this movie.
and they had to get their hair cut all funny,
and so i really hope it comes out on dvd so i can see my cousin in it.
*I'll be your best kept secret and your biggest mistake...* I <3 Fall Out Boy!*
I knew the Fincannons were probably responsible for the casting. I did two films for them in Wilmington, North Carolina for them.
Expecting Bundle Number 3 in April..
The Divine Genealogy Goddess