MovieChat Forums > Get Low (2010) Discussion > What? No stories??

What? No stories??

posted 14 years ago by shaggy61
17 replies | jump to latest

I like the movie overall, but regarding the legends of Felix, it's a big tease. The way the cafe owner harasses him and the preacher stonewalls him suggest the stories are pretty horrific. Felix keeps asking what the stories are and no one tells him, so he hosts his own funeral so he can hear them himself. So we wait the whole movie for the funeral party and it turns out to be a very short affair. The whole town turns out and no one gets to tell any stories.
I guess the filmmakers decided they weren't important, only Felix's true story mattered (though it was too contrived, like something out of a soap opera). But I wanted to hear the stories and how they contrasted with the truth. I suspect they were in there but ended up on the cutting room floor or victims of a hasty rewrite. Still I don't get why the filmmakers would give us such build-up about the legends then simply not follow through. It's advertised as a "true tall tale," where are the tall tales?
The movie might have worked even better if he had no big secret, he just preferred to be alone and all the wild stories grew out of nothing, so long as they were entertaining stories. But then it would have been more of a comedy.

[–] YourSock 13 years ago

I too liked the film overall but walked away from it asking where were the stories.

[–] davidsask 13 years ago

I agree with this statement it is kind of what the story is built around??!

[–] monkeymechx 13 years ago

They could have easily done a scene of him and the preacher walking up to the podium as a guy was saying over the loudspeaker "... and I heard he raped a goat!"

[–] icecue7 13 years ago

Yeah :( it was a bit disappointing without the stories but it's still an excellent movie.

[–] voicesinmyhead96 13 years ago

He didnt want any *beep* stories told. This was him asking for forgiveness, he wanted people to speak the truth of him even if it was bad but what he didn't want was people speaking *beep* gossip.

[–] minagel 13 years ago

Finally!! someone with a brain!!
'voicesinmyhead96' is right!...
The reason Felix was so interrested in the stories about him is because he wanted someone to tell HIS story for him, he wanted to confess, so he needed someone with the REAL story.
He wasn't interested in the *beep* gossip.
In the end he seeks out Charlie to help him, but he builds up the courage to confess for himself.
That is why the *beep* gossip stories weren't showed, because they weren't there.

[–] Meats_Of_Evil 13 years ago

I felt a little cheated by the end of the film. It seems like the confession of his story came to quick imo. I would have liked it more if the party had went on first and all those legends of him were told and people laughed at how silly they were and after a while he comes up to the stages and tells his story. I think the film would have worked better that way instead of getting us all pumped up about this weird funeral party and only seeing it end.

[–] shaggy61 13 years ago

If you're going to be beepin' rude beepholes, you have nothing worthwhile to add. minagel might also try reading over his/her own post and notice that it makes absolutely no sense.

[–] HalifaxOliver 13 years ago

Someone with a brain... how delightfully snobby. Its not like we don't see that he wanted the funeral to confess, its that this was advertised, and built around this wild, storytelling, get-together, making us think the whole time that it was going to be some big rowdy party with hilarious stories, but then... no stories, and a depressing confession, and everyone goes home. I liked the mvoe, but it wasn't exactly as advertised. Someone with a brain... give it a rest, professor.

[–] qtrixie 13 years ago

You already heard some of the stories during the film. He wanted the people who knew him to hear his confession. Granted this film is not the blockbuster-we-tell-you-what-to-think film but that is the genius of the film. This film was a multiple character study.

Having been on these boards for a few years now, I see 2 camps of posters. One camp is devoted to films, the history, the art of....the other camp is movie goers. Clearly these 2 camps clash and I usually don't respond to the camp I am not a part of. I think if we all leave room for the other camp, depending of which camp you belong, we can leave the name calling behind.

[–] JrnlofEddieDeezenStudies 8 years ago

That may be right, but the idea of hearing a bunch of tall tales about him is much more entertaining.

[–] donday-550-831091 13 years ago

We did get one popular myth when Felix confronted Buddy while eating rabbit: that he killed two guys in a fight. But good screenwriters know that the stories you paint in your own mind are the best ones. While discussing the drawing with Felix, Frank hints at a popular suspicion that Felix might shoot participants, and at the card game, there's the implication that Felix might turn the funeral into a shooting gallery--lurid parables retold. Imagine what the stone-tossing boy was thinking as he retched in fear when caught by Felix. You may even have been cataloging the fire flashbacks and MaryLee clues into your own developing story about Felix as the movie unfolded--how true was it to what Felix eventually told? As YouTube meme Ted Williams reminds us, good storytelling invokes a powerful "theater of the mind," which I think this movie did well.

[–] colstoughton 13 years ago

I agree, I did not think the film finished strong, which is a shame because everything but the last ten minutes was gold. I understand what the filmmakers were going for, but it definitely seemed like a big buildup for little payoff. I won't venture to suggest changes that ought to have been made, but it seemed like a piece was missing and after a certain point the filmmakers just got in a big hurry to get to the credits.

[–] mindwarp666 13 years ago

>it seemed like a piece was missing and after a certain point the filmmakers just got in a big hurry

I think you explain the problem with the ending very well - an excellent film that simply didn't get the payoff right. The Shawshank Redemption is what it is because of the utterly brilliant last several scenes. If the makers of that film messed up the ending, it would not have gone down in history as the landmark film it is. Films that build up towards a payoff at the end and just can't nail it end up as good films at best - not great films.

[–] Momber 13 years ago

Someone in another thread suggested the producers ran out of money towards the end. While I have no idea if that's true or not, it would indeed explain why the storytelling never took place, why we never got to see who got the raffle money and what kind of a "fair deal" Felix settled with the undertaker at the end of the day.
Provided the movie was shot in chronological order.

But maybe the creative team simply felt the story needed to be a bit more hurried towards the end. Who knows...

At any rate, imho these are minor flaws in an otherwise excellent movie.

[–] rafiqi 13 years ago

The movie felt dishonest to me. I felt cheated by the misleading setup. I was expecting a more complex portrayal and instead was handed feel-good pablum that made me feel emotionally manipulated. Thankfully, I saw this for free on a library DVD.

Even tall tales without a shred of truth to them would have helped; after all, a slice of mythic Americana is what this movie promised us from the start.

[–] m143386 12 years ago

For crying out loud. You didn't need the actual stories, you actually got some of them recounted during the film and in a couple of cases, for example the story with the little boy who smashed the window and the fight with the abusive stone throwing man in the steet you got to see exactly what those stories would consist of.

For some reason, i'm still sorting out in my head, this film didn't work for me, but not getting the 'promised' stories wasn't the reason for it.

For example I was more bothered by not finding out who attempted to rob the funeral home, but as the whole town knew about the money then i was happy to use my imagination to work that out for myself...

It was character driven, intimate, atmospheric and well acted but the constituent parts didn't bake the perfect movie cake for me...i'll come back when i work out why.

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