Robert Duvall has been acting since the sixties. He has acted in a lot of well-known movies like The Godfather series, Apocalypse Now and Falling Down. When I hear his name I always have to think about his role in Falling Down. He played a likeable cop who is about to retire and has to chase a lunatic who is terrorizing the city. It’s the first time he really stood out for me and I have been enjoying his acting ever since. He was also excellent in We Own the Night for example.
Duvall really makes Get Low the movie that it is. He’s the recluse Felix Bush, who lives alone on his own piece of land. A lot of stories are being told about him, although no one seems to know whether or not they are true. Because of these stories everyone seems to fear him, especially when he suddenly rides into the nearby town. He knows a lot of stories are told about him and he has an idea which allows him to hear all of them.
Bush is already old and thinks his time on earth is almost up. So he heads to the local funeral home, which is run by Frank Quinn (Bill Murray), to make his arrangements. There is only one small detail that will make his funeral unique, which is that he wants to have his funeral while he’s still alive.
As soon as Bush starts talking to people they all start wondering whether the stories are true and while he lived all alone without any contact with anyone. The old man doesn’t want to tell much, but does invite everyone who’s interested to come to his funeral.
Despite the tone of the movie Bill Murray still has moments where he’s very funny, which doesn’t distract from the story and actually fits quite well.
Duvall is amazing in his role and he really owns the movie. You see that Bush is living with something dark inside of him, that something has happened and that he’s not really open to others. It’s a unique and fascinating character, who you want to get to know. Get Low is a very interesting film full of emotion, which doesn’t bore you at any moment.
Score: 8