 |  | Good film from the maker of Secondhand Lions |  |
After seeing the impressive and wonderful "Secondhand Lions," I was interested to see the director's other work. He mentioned "Dancer, Texas" in the Lions commentary, so I rented it recently.
This movie has a number of great performances by relative unknowns (at least at the time). "Dancer, Texas" stands or falls based on the four young men at its center, and all four of those actors turn in excellent and authentic performances.
"Dancer, Texas" doesn't fall into the typical Hollywood trap of overly-romanticizing the small town. Dancer has its attractions, but the movie doesn't hesitate to show us the squalor just outside town (Squirrel's trailer), the lack of jobs, and even the lack of available women. "Dancer, Texas" also doesn't fall into the other Hollywood trap of making every small Southern town a seething cauldron of barely-constrained violence.
Neither those who stay nor those who leave are demonized or looked down upon. It's just that living in Dancer agrees with some and not with others, which is a point one of the characters makes early in the movie. That kind of tolerance is rare in mainstream movies, most of which really love or really hate the small town.
I knocked off one star because there are a few points in the movie that become tedious and simply repeat things we already know or points that have already been made. Having said that, "Dancer, Texas" is at least worth a rent.
March 27, 2007 | | Hurry up and leave...so I can turn this off! | |
Okay, I will admit that there were a few scenes here that touched me...but those heartwarming moments aside this movie is extremely dull and slow moving and really has no merit whatsoever. It's the coming of age story of four young men who graduate high school with plans on leaving town, a promise they made to each other that only one of the boys even wants to keep. This causes problems for them, fights ensue and then there's a happy ending. The problem is that getting to that happy ending is so boring. Nothing happens that holds your interest. I mean, I never really 'want' to turn off a movie, mostly so I can finish and write me opinion, but I was struggling to care about this movie. The young actors are a good bunch, but the script they were given doesn't allow you to care much for them. If you're gonna have a movie full of slow moving conversation at least make them talk about something we wanna hear.
August 17, 2006Excellent Movie, one of a few favorites I always go back to. None of the commercial, boiler-plate junk Hollywood spits out these days.
August 16, 2006 | | A Wonderful Place to Visit | |
I had never heard of this movie until its trailer appeared on another film I watched. It looked entertaining. I was surprised by how good it was. One of the reviews referred to it as being low key. It is. It's a quiet movie in that there's no violence, not much cussing and no sex. But, you know what? I like movies like that. This film takes a three day period of time in the lives of four high school grads who are determined to leave their hometown. In this period of time they consider reasons for leaving and reasons for staying. In the end decisions are made for the right reasons.
This is not a bravura movie made to dazzle the viewer through pretentious acting and direction. It's just a soft film that looks at the hearts and minds of these four young men. And, in doing this you see a film populated with kind and caring people you like. And, at the film's end I felt happy. What a wonderful thing to say. I felt happy. What else can you ask for in a film? I am very grateful for the chance that led me to seeing this movie. I recommend it very highly. I strongly suspect you will feel happy at film's end as well. All you have to do is open your heart.
April 11, 2006I loved this movie, however, I'm not sure how people outside of Texas will like it. Filled with talented young actors (3 of the 4 leads were in "Can't Hardly Wait" oddly enough), this movie is subtle in its approach to 4 friends who have recently graduated high school and are looking to set out on their own. A coming of age tale I highly recommend.
September 25, 2005More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
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