Review: The Quarry

A preacher (Bruno Bichir) gets a little too inquisitive of the stranger (Shea Whigham) he has just picked up and pays for it fatally. After burying the holy man’s body in the title quarry, Whigham decides to travel on to the small Texas town the preacher was heading to and poses as him. He preaches to the local townsfolk in a rather down-to-earth but no-nonsense manner that somehow they actually respond favourably to. This despite most of them being non-English speaking immigrants who likely don’t understand many of the words (and he doesn’t speak Spanish). When the dead body is uncovered, cluey but racist local lawman (Michael Shannon) suspects a local crim and his brother of the crime. Will this phony man of God get away with not just the ruse, but murder too?

 

Two terrific performances can’t do much to liven up this slow, dreadfully familiar 2020 crime-noir/western from director Scott Teems (who went on to script “Halloween Kills”) and his co-writer Andrew Brotzman (who comes from a background in short films). It’s one of those films where to be charitable you might call it a bit ‘small’, and I’m just not sure what the actors saw in the material. Do we really need yet another film about a violent man escaping his past and posing as a preacher? I feel like we’ve been there, done that quite a bit.

 

Perhaps for Whigham he just wanted a lead role, and he is indeed very good here. He broods and quietly simmers, as he nervously waits for his violent deeds to catch up with him. Some might find him a bit bland or passive in the part, I think he’s just subtle. On the other end of the spectrum is the more showy and loud Michael Shannon. Shannon is immediately excellent as the nosey lawman who seems to know everything about everyone except Whigham…for now at least. You get the sense that this is a guy who doesn’t like the unknown in his town. Shannon’s a perfect actor for this part, keeping you just as much on edge as he does Whigham’s character. The rest of the film however, never really draws you in, which lessens the tension between the central characters a bit. The other characters and just don’t pop, they’re well-acted but all of them pretty forgettable. As is the predictable and clichéd story, repurposed to Texas from post-Apartheid South Africa in the original novel by Damon Galgut. To be honest, I actually ended up being pretty pissed off with it for not really going anywhere new or compelling. It’s just sorta there.

 

I needed more than a couple of good actors delivering good performances to keep me interested here. Unfortunately this dour film isn’t worthy of its stars, nor one’s precious time. What did Whigham and Shannon see in this?

 

Rating: C

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Review: Hellraiser (2022)

Recovering junkie Odessa A’zion accompanies scuzzy boyfriend Drew Starkey on a break-in where all they find is a weird puzzle box. A’zion later opens the box and after some weird shit happens, A’zion and Starkey figure it might be a good idea to learn more about this messed up trinket. Goran Visnjic plays a millionaire who possessed the box before our protagonist nicked it.   Is there any point in remaking/rebooting “Hellraiser” when the 1987 adaptation of Clive Barker’s original text was written and directed by Barker himself? And is considered a horror classic? On evidence here, absolutely not. Directed by David Bruckner ( “The Signal” ) and scripted by Ben Collins ( “The Night House” ) and Luke Piotrowski (ditto) this is an entirely tedious affair. I took a long time to get on board with the 1987 “Hellraiser” , I have to admit. It was wildly imaginative and original, like a nightmare transplanted on to film. However, the characters were stone cold and left me similarly chilly t
Read more

Review: Cinderella (1950)

The story of poor young Cinderella (voiced by Ilene Woods), treated as a servant by her nasty stepmother (voiced by Eleanor Audley), and dismissed by her thoroughly rotten, ugly stepsisters. Her only friends are a group of mice, who are forever being menaced by a cat named Lucifer (or as I call him, Grumpy Cheshire Cat). The King (hoping to find a wife for his charming son) is throwing a ball and every available young woman is invited to attend, and Cinderella is most excited to go. However, her stepmother and stepsisters do all they can to prevent this from happening. But with help from the mice and one fairy godmother (voiced by Verna Felton) later, and Cinderella looks set to attend the ball. You know the rest, folks.   Lovely 1950 Disney animated movie from directors Clyde Geronimi ( “Peter Pan” , “Lady and the Tramp” ), Wilfred Jackson ( “Fantasia” , “Alice in Wonderland” , “Peter Pan” ) & Hamilton Luske ( “Pinocchio” , “Fantasia” , “Peter Pan” ), that is a bit too s
Read more

Review: Eugenie de Sade

Eugenie (Soledad Miranda) makes a deathbed confession to author/biographer (Jesus ‘Jess’ Franco himself), recounting the tale of how her depraved stepfather (Paul Muller) groomed her into a life of depravity, debauchery, and murder.   Not to be confused with the similarly titled “Eugenie…The Story of Her Journey into Perversion” (by the same director) or “Justine de Sade” (which is not to be confused with Franco’s own “Justine” for that matter), this 1973 Marquis de Sade adaptation from writer-director Jesus Franco ( “99 Women” , “A Virgin Among the Living Dead” ) is perhaps the perfect marriage of Franco, sleazy material, and actors. Basically this is what Franco’s “She Killed in Ecstasy” might’ve been like if it were based on a Marquis de Sade work. There’s a few slow spots here and there, but overall I actually think this is Franco’s best film. Yes, even better than my previous choice “Vampyros Lesbos” , and better than his more ‘respectable’ films like “Count Dracula” (a
Read more