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iankellett-78426
Reviews
Dirt Road to Lafayette (2018)
Bit of a stretch
It's a bit of a stretch to find a young Scottish lad, shy and diffident, gingerly picking up an accordion he says he hasn't played for awhile then playing the bejaysus out of it. Bedazzled, local dyed in the wool Louisiana zydeco players offer him studio time and a place in a band. However, it's only a stretch. Other movies demand that you leave your brains in neutral in order to accept their alternative take on reality.
It's about grief and letting go. I find other offerings deal with these subjects better, and others worse. At least it doesn't browbeat you with demands on your emotions that are too shrill to work well.
Interesting to see that many reviewers on here were deeply affected by it, while films that I love leave others cold.
Don't expect a fast pace. Enjoy the music.
Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing & Charm School (2005)
Great story, great plot twists and believable characters
A lucky find while trawling through for a film to watch,
It feels as if a great deal of thought has gone into making each scene believable and knowing that the movie has been fleshed out from an original short student makes the experience even more endearing for me.
The opening shot of Robert Carlyle was a surprise - I hadn't looked at the credits or the trailer - and because of his other work I had him down as a scallywag. In fact he is the one who is trying to The Right Thing, driven by guilt and a need to give his life some significance.
The characters, nearly all of them eccentric, have a three dimensional, believable quality that makes the film worth watching twice. There is too much to take in on the first viewing.
I loved the care that went in to the shots and was happy to bridge the credibility gaps - what was he doing in his immaculate bread van rolling along a deserted highway? Erm....he had been picking up some organic flour from a small supplier. Yeah that'll do....
Like As Good As It Gets, this is a film that is richly detailed and reflective of the good and bad in all of us.
The choice of music is superb, the care taken in setting up the scenes is admirable and the acting quietly brilliant.
Loved it. Hope you do too.