“That Evening Sun”

Reviewed 22 October 2009 by Ted Faraone

2 ½ stars out of Five; $6.00 ticket on a scale of $0 to $12.00

HAL HOLBROOK HOLDS HIS OWN AGAINST A POOCH

The best thing that can be said for “That Evening Sun,” the latest from helmer Scott Tees (who also gets screenplay credit) is in the headline.  Based on short story “I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down,” by William Gay, it suffers from two defects common to film based on literature of the American South.  There is little, if any, comic relief in an extraordinarily depressing story.  And it plumbs some moral and racial depths, the latter despite the almost total lack of persons of color in the cast.

At age 84, Holbrook has the crusty old man role (Abner Meecham) nailed.  Nobody plays it better.  His every move conveys more acting than the rest of the cast, save Barry Corbin (neighbor Thurl Chessor).  Meecham is a Tennessee farmer who checks out of a nursing home to find his far rented to arch enemy Lonzo Choat (Ray McKinnon), a man to whom Meecham refers by racist epithet “wh—e t—sh.”  Taking exception to the real estate deal engineered by son/guardian Paul (Walton Goggins), Abner moves into the sharecropper shack and sets about causing maximum annoyance the Choat family.  Part his plot includes adopting a charming and noisy pooch.  Lonzo hates dogs.  Animal lovers will be sickened by dog’s fate at Lonzo’s hands.

Plot exposes the seams and stitches in both families.  Meecham dreams of his late wife (played by real wife Dixie Carter in a non-speaking role), and refuses to confront the infirmities of old age.  Lonzo Choate has a violent streak often unleashed on wife (Carrie Preston) and teenage daughter Pamela (the stunning Mia Wasikowska).  Pamela lives in fear of daddy.  Lonzo also, unknown to the Meechams, does not have the funds to complete the lease purchase of Abner’s farm.  Lonzo also has a drinking problem which hinders his ability to run a farm.

The war between Lonzo and Abner escalates into a conflagration—literally.  It need not have happened.  Patience would have revealed Lonzo’s precarious finances.  It’s pic’s existential moment.

Pic’s payoff, if one cal call it that, comes in the form of a couple of morals, telegraphed, as it were:  Deal with reality.  Don’t drink if it makes you mean.  Be kind to animals.  And most important, perhaps, get out of violent homes, the sooner the better.

Tech credits are adequate.  Stunts are realistic.  Screenplay lags simply because material is too thin to be stretched to feature film length, 110 minutes in this case.  Although not rated, there is little unsuitable for children except the fate of the dog and some four-letter words.  It may be too depressing for all but the most grounded kids, however. 

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