Review: Bloodworth

Set in rural Tennessee, Kris Kristofferson stars as grizzled second-rate country musician (or at least never a mainstream success) E.F. Bloodworth, who up and left his wife (Frances Conroy) and kids some 40 years ago. Now after a mild stroke, he sends word that he’s coming back after all these years to make peace (with himself perhaps?), which brings up old wounds, resentment and anger in his sons, especially eldest son Brady (W. Earl Brown), who is paranoid and claims to be able to put curses on people. Val Kilmer is Warren, a hard-drinkin’ and whorin’ sort who is not often sober and completely irresponsible. Dwight Yoakam plays the frequently hostile Boyd, whose teen son Fleming (Reece Thompson), is an aspiring writer and perhaps the only redeemable male member of the family. He’s also the only member of the family who seems to have any time for E.F. Meanwhile, Yoakam spends much of the film looking for Fleming’s floozy mother, who has apparently left Yoakam for another man. Sheila Kelley plays a foul-mouthed ho’, whose daughter (Hilary Duff) strikes up a relationship with Fleming. Barry Corbin turns up as a gun-totin’ bartender and Brent Briscoe plays an angry man who has a beef with E.F.

Scripted by co-star W. Earl Brown (his first screenwriting venture) and directed by Shane Dax Taylor, this unusual 2010 Southern Gothic melodrama is based on a novel called “Provinces of the Night” by William Gay (and the film also goes by this title in some places). It’s full of familiar clichés and types (Conroy plays a similarly withdrawn, if even more unstable character to the one she played in “Stone” and Yoakam isn’t too far removed from the character he played in “Sling Blade”), but is extremely well-acted and highly watchable nonetheless. Kris Kristofferson (the most authentic thing in the film) has one of his best-ever roles and is pitch-perfect (he damn near made me cry!), whilst Val Kilmer gives his most entertaining performance in years, despite an awful cowboy outfit that is patently ridiculous. But the whole cast is really good, including Brown himself, a terrific cameo by Barry Corbin, and even Hilary Duff in a somewhat small role.

Aside from an abrupt finish, my only real complaint would be that the flashback scenes, snippets really, are left awfully muddy and unexplained. I’m not even sure it was all that necessary to include them anyway.

A small film, not always pleasant (we’re talking backwoods Tennessee, folks), but an interesting film nonetheless, if a bit thematically familiar.

Rating: B-