★ 4 / 10
Typical couple in that kind of horrible relationship
Shannon F
Typical couple in that kind of horrible relationship. A bunch of empty promises. I could figure out where the whole movie was going in the first few minutes.…
Typical couple in that kind of horrible relationship. A bunch of empty promises. I could figure out where the whole movie was going in the first few minutes. Joelle Carter's acting, if you call it that was horrible.
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★ 10 / 10
Success in 1.5 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!...
Stephen C
Success in 1.5 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Language and…
Success in 1.5 hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Rated R for Language and Violence!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! The USA grossed over $5,100.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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★ 5 / 10
The Living" can't be considered a great major
ronald h
"The Living" can't be considered a great major work, but writer/director Jack Bryan has a pretty good handle on the elements of film noir—suspense, probable…
"The Living" can't be considered a great major work, but writer/director Jack Bryan has a pretty good handle on the elements of film noir—suspense, probable murder, and most importantly, a really nasty bad guy, played with gusto by Chris Mulkey.
The story is simple. Teddy (Fran Kranz) has physically abused his wife Molly (Jocelin Donahue) one too many times, and she orders him to move out of their house and into a cheap motel. Molly's brother Gordon (Kenny Wormald), who lives with their mother (Joelle Carter) is angry and wants to protect his sister. A friend recommends an ex con who will do away with Teddy for the impressive sum of $2,000. Teddy drives from Pennsylvania to Mississippi to pick up Howard the hitman (Mulkey), who, to put it mildly, turns out to be full of surprises.
Meanwhile, Teddy and Molly gradually start to make up. Teddy is not played as an angry, abusive jerk, but a rather unassuming fellow who has blackouts when he drinks. He claims to not even remember hitting Molly. He apologizes profusely and begs her forgiveness.
The acting and direction are straightforward and unembellished: no over-emoting or scenery chewing, no flashy camera work.
Mulkey is impressive. He has a respectable resume to begin with, and here, he just totally inhabits his despicable character. You'll hate him, but you'll find yourself laughing uncomfortably at him.
Of course, things go badly wrong. Don't expect any insightful character development here. Everything is in service to the plot, which is presented in such a literal, straight ahead fashion that it's disarming.
This is a good indie effort that's worth a watch, as long as you remember that film noir often requires the bar to be lowered a bit. It ain't MacBeth. It is what it is.
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