Written and Directed by Robert D. Krzykowski
Cast
Sam Elliott - Old Man Calvin Barr
Aidan Turner - Young Calvin Barr
Caitlin FitzGerald - Maxine
Larry Miller - Ed Barr
Opening Thoughts: Growing up in my household, with as as big as a movie fan I am you might be surprised if I told you my mom is just not into cinema. She has only been to the theaters once in the last five years as context. So there are not many actors or films she speaks about. One thing is for sure she doesn't understand my passion for films.
However she will talk about one actor with a passion of love. That actor is Sam Elliott. To my mom, Sam Elliott screams what man should be inside and out. A moustache, hairy chest, and a sense of sensibility few actors have that makes him attractive to both women and men. Outside of Robert DeNiro, Sam Elliott is the actor I have watched with my Mom.
So anytime I get a chance to experience a new film with Sam Elliott I cherish those moments. That said watching Sam in a film that appears to be an exploitation is nothing I have experienced before. This may work for him and may not the film seems outside of his wheelhouse.
Well at least the trailer looked fun and hopefully the film lives up to that. The film from that trailer looks like it came from the mind of Quentin Tarantino. I just can't see Elliott in a Tarantino film it's so not Elliott.
Plot: Calvin Barr, an ederly man, is a man who appears to be just going through the motions at this point in his life to survive. Barr, doesn't seem to have a lot of friends and wants to keep his past a secret even from his closest relatives and best friend Ed Barr.
The past is eating him alive from the inside, on any given day you will find Calvin in a dive bar drowning his regrets in liquor. Those regrets, especially when drinking trigger PTSD moments to where he remembers his past like it was happening right now. Calvin as result looks like a sad excuse for a man and an easy target for criminals to take advantage of at his age.
One day on his way home from the bar a group of young hooligans decide they want to mug Calvin and steel his car. What they didn't expect was Calvin to fight back with cat like reflexes. Calvin easily subdues the men, but that moment triggers flashbacks of his past that he wish he never did and regrets.
The next day Calvin finds himself in his younger brother's barber shop. Ed can tell Calvin is troubled, but nothing Ed can do can get Calvin to open up to him. So Calvin is reliving, a period in his life feom the late 1930s to mid 1940s by himself.
That past finds Calvin in a relationship with a young school teacher Maxine. The relationship appears to be one that most of us would long for, but with the United States going into World War II every man wants to join including Calvin. Maxine doesn't want Calvin to join. Calvin is already an accomplished person with musical talent, Maxine knows Calvin doesn't need to join.
Maxine ultimately decides to end their relationship based on Calvin's decision to join the war amd go back to her hometown to teach. Ultimately it's this decision of what if that bothers Calvin years later. Yet Calvin is also bothered by the assassination of Adolf Hitler he carried out back then.
It is those skills years later that brings the CIA knocking on his door asking him to search, hunt, and kill the bigfoot that is carrying a virus that could wipe out more people than the 1919 Spanish Flu virus. Calvin refuses because he is pacifist that can't live with the blood of another person or creature on his hands. The thing is Calvin is one of the few people immune to this virus and quickly realizes he has no choice but to accept this mission because the fate of the world relies on him not just mankind, but animalkind as well.
As Calvin prepares for the showdown with the bigfoot he finally opens up about his past to Ed. Ed finding it hard to believe supports Calvin and understands this may be the last time he sees his brother alive.
Who wins in the final showdown Calvin Barr or the Bigfoot?
Review: What I thought I might see going into this film, is not what was delivered after I watched the film at the Film Bar Phoenix. With RLJE films attached and the title of the film, I expected an exploitation film. What I saw in the theater played out as a classic western in which a lawman regrets something of his past and must atone for what he felt was his sins years later in order to move on. An atonement that requires that lawman, or some instances a criminal, to come out of retirement despite the fact he or she don't want to.
In alot of ways this film is comparable to Unforgiven or First Blood. Krzykowski should be applauded for this. What Kryz did was give such an outlandish concept, but made it believable as a serious film worthy of being in Sam Elliott's catalog of films. The fact he went this route makes me excited to see more of his films in the future since this was his directorial debut as feature film director.
Special shoutouts should go to Larry Miller and Caitlin FitzGerald as well. Sam always delivers in his performances no matter how bad his films are. Aidan Turner I have had similar experiences im both film and television with. Larry Miller is a great character actor in films like The Nutty Professor and Necessary Roughness, but he always plays the villain in roles that I have seen him in. I have never seen Miller play sympathetic character that you are supposed to like in a film. It's the first time I saw him break this mold and honestly I want more of it. Caitlin on the other hand provides a performance that is perfect you love her and you want Aidan to end up with her. You can feel what she is thinking without having to hear her say it. I am hoping she becomes a bigger actress.
The film, including the forest scenes, were shot in Massachusetts. I think the most breathtaking scenes cinematography wise happen in the forest. I wish this sequence longer because of those shots.
That said this film does have its flaws. With Krzy making this a serious film, the design and how the bigfoot scene played out was cringeworthy at times. This is probably the biggest flaw of the film having a bigfoot that didn't seem frightening and an exploitation fight sequence when the rest of the film up til that sequence was serious took the film back a notch or two. The bigfoot throwing up in Calvin's mouth while funny just didn't seem to belong. The bigfoot looked like tje witch from Henson's Dark Crystal again just out of place.
The other flaws of this film develop in the aftermath of the showdown and unexplored opportunities with Calvin and Maxine when he returned from WWII. I just wish that aspect was explored more.
Final Thoughts: I'm glad I saw this film in the theater. Overall everyone attached to this project delivered. Sure the film has its setbacks, but the good outweighs the bad. As far as 2019 goes, this is the best film off the 27 films I have seen this year in the theater. That said the year is early and I would give this film a 7/10. So as you can see I don't think the film is great, but the film is worthy of watching in the theater and good for repeat viewing. If you can deliver that then as a team you accomplished what uou were meant to. If this was Sam's last film I would be okay with it.
Side News: I don't know anybody who loves Sam Elliott as much as my Mom does more than Shelly Grant of BS Movies Podcast. I love BS Movies Podcast and while I have influenced both Brian Haas and Shelly Grant into watching films they have also influenced my cinematic journey.
BS Movies wants to take their show on the road throughout cinemas across the nation. Films are a passion of love and that is what they want to share on their road trip. However to share that passion of love it does cost money and they are looking for support to take this show on the road. BS Movies has started a wonderful Indiegogo project with wonderful perks.
To see more about this project visit this link
igg.me/at/bsmovies
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