Nashville Film Fest 2019 Recap: Movies: Part 1

INTERNATIONAL FALLS

Directed by Amber McGinnis, this dramedy can’t properly function as a comedy nor a drama. The laughs don’t come easily – and neither does being engrossed in the two leads and their search for what’s next. Rachael Harris plays Dee, a hotel front desk worker in a freezing small town in Minnesota who dreams to be a stand-up comic. She meets a burned-out comedian named Tim (Rob Huebel) and they spend a nice chunk of time chatting about their mistakes and failed marriages. It’s a pity party we’ve all been invited to with lukewarm jokes that are no help. Harris and Huebel’s chemistry never clicks, and the bland storytelling only piles on to the movie’s ongoing problems. By the time you get to its big eye-rolling ending, you’re completely checked-out.

DRIVEN

A wealthy guy takes a Lyft-type service to destroy a family curse in an oafish horror/comedy about vanquishing demons (for lack of a better term). Richard Speight Jr. and Casey Dillard, the driver and wannabe comedienne, are trying hard in their performances – but there’s no convincing an audience to care where they’re going next. For director Glenn Payne, the very basic elements don’t come to life for him to deliver a thrilling venture worth watching. The “possessed” are pathetic, there’s a serious lack of suspense, and almost the entire movie feels like you’re trapped in a car with two people talking bullshit dialogue. It’s a ride that ends in the darkest corner of a bargain bin.

CLIMATE OF THE HUNTER

Hypnotic throughout, director Mickey Reece’s latest isn’t the most completely coherent tale, but it’s eccentric enough to enjoy without straining to make it make sense. Ginger Gilmartin and Mary Buss play two polar opposite sisters reuniting at their family’s cabin to see their old friend Wesley (Ben Hall) after two decades. He’s a silver tongued writer who recently had to submit his wife into a mental institution. He also could be a vampire. So there’s that. Including Buss’s Elizabeth, the three of them know a thing or two about loneliness, the necessity of companionship, and getting older.

Gilmartin is superb as Alma, who starts to pick up signs that Wesley may not be human once images come flying at her in her dreams. Also, Hall is terrific as a charming gentleman who has an undeniable way with words. He holds the sisters, and us for that matter, in a trance. The taste of unexpectedness is what keeps us at the dinner table. A family drama. A dark comedy about sibling rivalry. A horror about an immortal bloodsucker. Take your pick. It’s seventies style and lustful cravings only add to the abnormal atmosphere that’s inescapable. Liking everything that Reece serves up is a tough call. He’s an acquired taste, but this film’s irresistible nature and tone is damn delicious.

More Nashville Film Fest 2019 Coverage

Brandon Vick is a member of The Music City Film Critics’ Association, the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and the star of The Vick’s Flicks Podcast. Follow him on Twitter @SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.