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49 out of 61 people found the following review useful: A World Unto Itself, 2 March 2005 Author: thatoneguychris from United States
I recently saw this film after seeing Green's George Washington. While that film was interesting it wasn't fantastic...Undertow is fantastic and more. The plot is simple enough, just a story about two boys and their father living in the backwoods of America when their world is interrupted. The boys' uncle comes to visit, recently out of prison, and life quickly changes for them all and the true beauty of this film comes out. Where many movies fail is in focusing too heavily on the main characters or the action of the story. Undertow makes no such mistakes. In between the more intense scenes we are introduced to the world around our heroes. We meet fully developed characters each of whom could easily fill a movie of their own. Rather than creating a world for us to watch, Green has instead allowed us into a living, breathing world as observers. We don't get explanations for everything, only what we see on the screen. Miraculously, none of these characters slow down the film. They add humor or romance or suspense before we are snapped back to the main story. On top of all that the film is beautifully shot, perfectly acted/cast and the music fits the moods in each scene. There is finally a movie that can thrill us, but still take time to make sure we care and believe in it's world. I cannot recommend it enough, you will not be disappointed.I'm not sure what world Green will next allow us to enter, but I can't wait.
46 out of 75 people found the following review useful: A pull toward convention, 7 November 2004 Author: Chris Knipp from Berkeley, California
A teenage boy smashes his would be girlfriend's window and gets chased by the cops. He leaps out of a barn and lands on a plank driving a long nail through his foot – but surprises us by keeping on running, howling with pain, plank and all. When he's taken to jail he's patched up and released and given the plank back. When he gets home he carves it into a birthday present, a toy airplane for his little brother. This is how this movie begins. "Undertow" takes place in an unnamed rural part of Georgia near water where at first we meet two boys, Chris and Tim Munn (Jamie Bell and the young Devon Alan) who live on a small isolated pig farm with their moody father, John Munn (Dermot Mulroney), a widower who's buried himself in this far off place because he can't deal with his wife's passing. (The Munns, the opening titles tell us, were real people in Georgia and this is based on their lives.) Suddenly John's brother Deel Munn (Josh Lucas) unexpectedly appears, just out of jail and full of anger and envy. Even if the father was edgy with the boys, and Chris was obstreperous and Tim was odd, it was a solid little world, but Deel's presence leads to violence and flight. The action hinges on a set of gold coins that have an almost fairy-tale significance, and the Brothers Grimm were an influence on the story.Yes indeed: the story. This new movie by much admired young American director David Gordon Green arouses disappointment in some of his fans who miss the quirky, stylized meanderings of his "George Washington" and "All the Real Girls," because "Undertow" moves squarely into the more conventional world of plot and action. Others who like myself admired almost everything about his earlier efforts but their lack of a strong narrative line are glad that this time there is one. But no doubt it comes at a price. There's a tug of war between the old Green and the new one going on.The movie divides itself into the time leading up to the violence and the period of flight and pursuit that ends in climax and denouement. There are those who say "Undertow" is derived from Seventies thrillers or "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter" or Terrence Malick, whose producer imprimatur the movie bears. These associations pop up because indeed the story is not brilliantly original, even if the texture and look are as distinctive as those of Green's earlier movies. Two thirds of the way through, "Undertow's" narrative arouses expectations of momentum and suspense that are temporarily disappointed, because in the course of flight and pursuit the movie starts to wander a bit. The idiosyncratic dialogue and fresh characters are what makes Green's work so interesting, but they do slow things down, particularly here. In the end neither the die-hard fans nor newcomers will be completely satisfied. It's his very independence that keeps him from completely pleasing anybody but himself. Green has gone too conventional in some ways, such as cheesy opening titles and an initial series of attention-grabbing freeze-frames, which also continue to reappear sporadically throughout the picture at random moments. The former amateurishness has been replaced with some pointless over-slickness. The cinematography by Green regular Tim Orr is lovely though, with its rich locales and saturated color. Green's earlier movies fell flat for me -- "George Washington" was singular and engaging but went nowhere, and "All the Real Girls" had more character development but suffered from bad casting and embarrassing dialogue. At its worst moments, which tended to stick in the mind, both movies seemed like Hallmark cards for rural retards. But "Undertow" does not disappoint, despite its flaws. It retains the distinctive style. And this time because it's successfully plot-driven from very early on, the meanderings -- having a firm foundation in action and character -- come to seem engaging digressions rather than mere self-indulgence. The stuff about a chocolate cake at Tim's ruined birthday party, Chris's run with the plank stuck to his foot, even Tim's disgusting-seeming habit of eating mud and crud and paint and throwing up, wake you up and make you pay attention because of their particularity. It's true that Lucas and Mulroney are too much the Hollywood hunks, just as Zooey Deschanel in "Real Girls" was too much the Indie pinup queen: Green may still have some problems with casting. But not with Jamie Bell, who's about perfect. And he still stays true to the composite southern milieu he grew up in. The grandparents who appear in the denouement are priceless, like so many of the incidental characters. Deel's arrival at the farm is electric in its effect. From then on the scene is nothing but tension. Mulroney and Lucas, if we discount the too-perfect hunkiness, make a good pair of brothers. Both are big, physical, attractive men whose faces aren't unalike. Mulroney has sullenness about him; Lucas is edgy and aggressive. It turns out John's late wife was Deel's girlfriend first, and John stole her away from him, so the fraternal conflict was truly primal. Their confrontation makes you realize how successfully violence conveys a sense of structure in any story. After that, the boys run off pursued by Deel, carrying away the gold coins Deel thinks he should have gotten from his father instead of John. There are hints of "Huckleberry Finn" in the boys' adventures when they go wandering on the run from Deel, while the boys' meditative voiceovers suggest Malick. It's strange that the sickly little Tim is the one who runs carrying the bag that has both his books and the couple dozen gold coins in it. But despite such inconsistencies and the suggestion by critics and viewers that the narrative is hackneyed, the treatment and the mood are pure David Gordon Green. With this third film his methods finally make sense. Rather than thinking of Seventies actioners and the movie "The Heart Is a Lonely Hunter," you'd do better to refer to Carson McCullers, whose novel that film is based on, or to the stories of Truman Capote or Eudora Welty or William Faulkner, or -- closer to today -- the early novels of Cormac McCarthy; or to the photographs of Ralph Eugene Meatyard or Sally Mann. Like those artists, and unlike any Hollywood director, Green has a rich, particular, overripe, deeply southern vision. The fun is in the particularity -- in the cashier, for instance, who flirts with Deel and chokes on her gum; in her mechanic husband who rambles on about some obscure musical group called the Storics; in Tim's storytelling from his books and the way he is filing them at home according to their smell. "Despite a few narrative confusions," Jonathan Rosenbaum has written of "Undertow," "I found it pure magic." You could be cynical and say it would take magic to justify the confusions. But Rosenbaum isn't far wrong. For whatever faults it has, "Undertow" really sings.
19 out of 24 people found the following review useful: Intense, brooding, grimy – this is the best film I've seen in a long time, 26 July 2006 Author: Flagrant-Baronessa from the kingdom of far, far away (Sweden)
Director David Gordon Green's critically acclaimed Undertow is a strange but gripping experience. I don't know any other film quite like this. We've seen the slow pacing build up tension in the plot before in films, but it's so much more than that in Undertow – it's the pace of a family's life in the deep backwoods of Georgia and it it patiently lets us absorb everything. Maybe I was in a sensitive and impressionable frame of mind when I saw it, because I remember being so shaken and touched by this fare that its visuals and mood still haunt me.But this patient, slow pace is the calm before the storm as it comes to an end when the brother of the father of the family comes to visit, newly released from prison. Josh Lucas is this brother, and he captures the shady nature of his character with effortless conviction. His presence is felt in scenes he is not even in. Upon arriving to the family, the film just takes a completely different turn and we follow the two brave kids in the family on the run in the south from their uncle.This is further emphasized by attention-grabbing frames that freeze whenever intensity builds up. This may seem anti-climactic, but it's extremely effective and it makes the chase sequences very exciting and 1970s-influenced. So it essentially shifts between chase mode and (eerily) quiet South-paced calm in a genius way. If you like your films fast-paced and action-filled however, its brilliance may be lost on you – but if you give it time, Undertow will surprise you as it's unpredictable, even in style. This is just how meticulously-crafted it is.The film is grimy, dense, brooding and realistic and it zooms in on the deep necks of Georgia, featuring some gorgeously striking visuals, making you feel the dirt and heat of the deep south as if you were right there, breathing the murky warm air from the brown rivers. Some say Green's directing style is reminiscent of Terrence Malick (it is very visually-driven) but I don't think so – rather it is an insult to the former; Green clearly knows what he's doing and lets nature visuals facilitate the story he tells, while Malick lets the story facilitate his pointless nature visuals.I loved Undertow more every minute it progressed and am now prepared to give this film a 9 out 10. I also have it firmly stapled in my top 10 films of all time list and that is quite a feat for such a low-key dark horse. 9/10
20 out of 28 people found the following review useful: The "Dukes of Hazzard" Go to Hell, 9 July 2005 Author: David H. Schleicher from New Jersey, USA
Taking a pop-culture icon and flipping it on its head is a favorite pastime of young film directors. In 1986 David Lynch took his boy-scout memories and essentially, in his own words, sent "The Hardy Boys" to hell with "Blue Velvet." Likewise, with a bit of Terrance Malick inspired poeticism, director David Gordon Green sends the good old Duke Boys to hell with "Undertow." Josh Lucas is effectively menacing in a "Night of the Hunter" kind of way as the recently released from prison brother of the stoic Dermot Mulroney, who has secluded himself and his two sons from the rest of the world on a hog farm following the death of his wife (whom was previously involved with Lucas' character). Some family folklore involving a hidden stash of gold coins sends Lucas' ex-con on a rampage that ends with the tracking of the young brothers on the run through rural American Gothic hell on earth. There's a lot to fault in a film like this, but also a lot to treasure if you give it the time. Jamie Bell and Devon Alan as the two brothers are very convincing and easy to route for, and some directorial flourishes from Green and nice character acting from Lucas keep the film fresh and original even as it channels past classics from Malick ("Badlands"), Lynch ("Blue Velvet"), and the "Night of the Hunter." There's also a score from my favorite minimalist composer Philip Glass. All in all, not a bad way for a film buff to spend their evening.
18 out of 26 people found the following review useful: Quirky and violent southern fairy tale, 1 February 2005 Author: ThrownMuse from The land of the Bunyips
John (Dermot Mulroney) is a single father living in backwoods Georgia with his two sons, teenaged Chris (Jamie Bell) and younger Tim (Devon Alan). Their quiet and routine lives are disrupted with the arrival of Deel (Josh Lucas), John's estranged brother. They decide to try to work things out and become a family, but competitiveness gets the best of the two men, secrets are revealed, and this quickly leads to horrific violence. The two kids escape the situation only to find themselves being hunted across the state.The opening credits have a 70s Dukes of Hazzard feel (ostensibly the filmmaker's way of letting us know in which decade this story is set, as the isolated existence of the family gives no indication) that includes random freeze-frames. This is an early clue that this movie is going to be a unique experience. The freeze-frames become distracting (and seemingly arbitrary) when they return later interspersed throughout the film, but they help to loosen up the exciting (but excruciating!) introduction. The cinematography throughout this film is absolutely gorgeous and makes rural Georgia appear to be some sort of poverty-stricken fantasy land.The performances are excellent. Mulroney and Lucas, two typical supporting Hollywood heartthrobs that some might say are miscast, actually play well off of each other and are very believable as brothers. The child actors are phenomenal, which is important as the story belongs to these two boys who are suddenly faced with violence that changes their lives. The plot borders on a twisted fairytale--it even involves gold coins! This seems silly at times, but considering this movie is told through the perspective of two young boys, it is somehow fitting.The movie is at times quirky and filled with charming weirdness. Tim, in particular, is a fascinating character that has some sort of eating disorder where his body rejects food but craves things like paint, mud, and worms. The supporting characters the boys meet on their journey are equally bizarre. Some scenes come across as ridiculous or absurd, but Undertow is a film that is rich in both symbolism and metaphor and it is necessary to look for the deeper meaning of such scenes.Alternately charming and disturbing, Undertow is a powerful film about the horrors of betrayal and family violence, and the beauty of forgiveness. Highly recommended, but be warned that the violence is graphic and very difficult to watch.My Rating: 8/10
9 out of 12 people found the following review useful: "All The Lost Boys", 16 November 2005 Author: Galina from Virginia, USA
David Gordon Green's third film is more conventionally plotted than his previous "All the Pretty Girls" but it has his very distinctive earthy and poetic style that makes the film dreamy and beautiful without being "pretty-pretty". Based on the real story, "Undertow" tells about a father and his two sons who live in a rural backwoods Georgia. The father is a lonely man; the older son is a rebel, and the young one has some health problems. One day, a long lost Uncle Deel shows up, and the lives of four of them are changed forever. This film is a successful combination of the family drama and "South Gothic Thriller". It brings to mind such classics of the cinema as "Night Hunter" and the writings of Mark Twain and Brothers Grimm as well as the ancient legends and myths. The best about the film are its stunning cinematography and performances by Jamie Bell as Chris Munn, the older boy and Josh Lucas as Deel Munn, the boys' uncle whom they never knew.
13 out of 20 people found the following review useful: A Promising Tale Meanders into the Director's Indulgences, 27 April 2005 Author: gradyharp from United States
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
UNDERTOW is a perplexing film, one that seems like it could be a superb atmospheric contemplation of poverty and its consequences in the back roads of the South, but ends in a prolonged ennui that suggests that a growing director doesn't know when excess has been met and indulged.John Munn (Dermot Mulroney) lives with his two sons Chris (Jamie Bell) and Tim (Devon Alan) in mud and squalor in rural Georgia, a place of escape from inquisitive society after the death of his wife. Chris is lonely and curious and is repeatedly arrested for minor crimes while Tim is psychically injured and lives in an unhealthy mental state eating paint, mud, and anything that will make him vomit. John Munn tries valiantly to cope with being a single father of these two problematic boys but clearly needs help.Into this setting arrives Deel, John's ne're-do-well brother with whom he had a rocky childhood who has been recently released form prison for a crime that apparently tangentially involved John. John takes Deel in to provide shelter in exchange for helping him with his pig farm and with his boys, but we soon discover that Deel's true motivation for visiting his long-lost brother is to gain access to gold coins given to John and Deel by their father (references to the use of gold coins to pay Charon for passage over the river Styx into Hades and the subsequent curse on these coins is explained by John to his boys).The crisis of the movie is the conflict and ultimately deadly encounter between Deel and John and when the boys observe the loss of their father, they gather the coins and a backpack and begin their flight to safety. The remainder of the movie is how these two brothers learn to grow up and fend for themselves in the most difficult of circumstances and always under the threat of Deel's discovering their whereabouts. Along the way we meet some interesting if repetitively impoverished folk, each adding a bit of philosophy, both said and unsaid, to the boys' growth. The ending is Grand Guignol and to reveal it further would be a disservice to the surprise it holds.David Gordon Green is a 30-year-old director who has a penchant for tales of the impoverished South. He understands mood and atmosphere, makes use of freeze frame camera angles poignantly and is able to draw unfettered realistic performances from his actors (both main characters and bit players). He wisely elected to enlist the fine cinematography of Tim Orr, the quasi-appropriate musical score by Phillip Glass, and tries to work with a shaky dialogue by screenwriter Joe Conway based on a story by Lingard Jervey. At this point in his career (and yes, he is the assigned director for the upcoming 'The Secret Life of Bees') he is a creative artist who needs to watch his own completed films carefully to see where he loses control of the story and allows it to disappear in the mists of bland blathering. There is so much good in his work that surely the services of a brave, outspoken editor will repair his indulgences.The four main actors are all excellent: Mulroney and Lucas have an unkempt, of-the-dirt sensuality that keeps them constantly engaging and each develops a fully realized character from the material they are given. Jamie Bell proves that he can take on tough roles and make them appear naturally simple and Devon Alan is a sensitive purveyor of a damaged boy.If there were just some way to condense this two-hour film down to tolerable proportions, this would be a truly fine film. Be patient with it and you will be observing the work of a director who will probably become an important voice. Grady Harp
18 out of 30 people found the following review useful: Strange, 28 November 2004 Author: Mattias Petersson from Stockholm, Sweden
I watched Undertow at the Stockholm International Film Festival in November 2004. I had previously heard nothing about the film and it was more or less a coincidence that made med watch it. It was a pleasant experience though.Undertow is about two brothers living with their father in rural America. They live inside the woods since their father wants to keep away from other people. The oldest son, Chris, is a troubled kid almost always in trouble with the law. The youngest son has health problems. One day the fathers brother comes to visit, recently out of prison. He stays for a while before starting a new job. Soon though, there is trouble. Things happen and before long the two brothers are running from their uncle.The story here is perhaps nothing you haven't seen before at one time or another. But it's well executed and the strange, almost surreal, mood of the film is well maintained throughout. What stands out though in my opinion is the acting. All the main characters are acted very well. Especially Jamie Bell is excellent as the oldest brother. Also Josh Lucas does a terrific job playing the boys' unpleasant uncle.I wouldn't call this a masterpiece but it's well worth the watch. If for nothing else, then at least for the acting. It was one of the better films i saw at this years film festival, and i feel it's worth recommending. I rate it 6/10.
15 out of 25 people found the following review useful: Achieves a rare naturalism, 15 November 2004 Author: Howard Schumann from Vancouver, B.C.
In Undertow, the third film by David Gordon Green (George Washington, All the Real Girls), two young brothers, Tim (Devon Allen) and Chris (Jamie Bell), flee their home in rural Georgia after their father (Dermot Mulroney) is murdered by his convict brother Deel (Josh Lucas). Co-produced by Terrence Malick, Undertow has aspects of a conventional thriller but it bears Green's unmistakable languid, dreamy style, though many are comparing it to Terrence Malick's Badlands and Charles Laughton's classic Night of the Hunter. Using an abundance of yellow, brown, and red tones, Cinematographer Tim Orr effectively captures the atmosphere of the poor South with its abandoned spaces, junkyards, urban rot, and backwoods pig farms. Green has a feel for the way people talk and the dialogue achieves a rare naturalism but it is not a film in the neo-realist tradition. It's lyrical tone puts it in more in the land of Huck Finn and Robinson Crusoe, territory reserved for myth and poetry.Using freeze frames, slow motion, color manipulation, and transitional fades, the opening sequence captures Chris's escape from his girl friend's menacing father after he accidentally breaks a window trying to alert her of his presence. Impaling his foot on a board and nail, he stumbles home with his foot bleeding severely and later uses the board to make an airplane to give to his 10-year old brother, Tim. In a subplot makes us aware of the eccentricity of the characters, Tim has some strange stomach problems, and eats paint and dirt to induce vomiting, a condition, according to the director who suffered the same malady, called pica brought on by malnourishment. The early pace is leisurely but things heat up when Uncle Deel shows up. Recently out of prison, he harbors resentments against his brother for marrying his sweetheart and taking part of his inheritance of Mexican gold coins. Oddly, his brother invites him to stay at the farm but we can tell that he's there for more than hominy grits and southern fried chicken. Resentment soon turns to violence and the boys, threatened by the wounded uncle, escape on foot seeking out food and shelter wherever it is available. On the run, they undertake a nightmarish journey through forests and swamps, on freight cars and foot, spending time with people living on the margins: a friendly black couple and some runaway girls who Chris is drawn to out of loneliness and fear. As Uncle Deel closes in, the film becomes less about the chase and more about the characters and the relationship between the brothers. Jamie Bell, the English actor who played Billy Eliot, turns in a magnificent performance as Chris and Josh Lucas is convincing as the deranged uncle. Utilizing a haunting score by Philip Glass, Undertow gradually builds its low-key tension to a power that becomes riveting. In spite of some repetitive chase scenes and a few superfluous camera tricks, it is Green's best film and deserves more than a limited release.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful: overrated quite unconvincing, 27 October 2005 Author: johndoeboy from Australia
made the mistake of watching a film based on IMDb rating. usually it's reliable, but in this case, result was anything but positive.plot is so simple its laughable. execution is less than stellar. editing is confusing. i like the freeze frames, but they're totally overused in the opening sequence, not at all setting the rite mood for the film.very confused about Chris' mate in the beginning of the film; is that a guy or a girl. can't be bothered finding out. guess it must have been a girl, because if not, and if Chris was gay/bi, then what happened to that storyline? kids don't talk like adults. heck, even adults don't talk like Tim or Chris love-interest in the beginning of the film. it totally ruins it for me; dialog is so outrageously unrealistic. that and the fact that the two kids don't even cry after their loving father is brutally killed.and then there's the silly sappy ending that i was so hoping wasn't going to materialize. for a second i thought it wouldn't, but then it did.so, give this one a miss. it will disappoint. most definitely.
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