Summary:
The two sons of a minister in Montana come of age, while also learning the secrets of fly-fishing.
My Thoughts:
A buddy and I go back and forth recommending films to one another, and this is one of the films he recommended to me. I’ll state at the top of this review that I enjoyed this film and I thought it was really well done; I also think it’s a bit slow, and if it would’ve been trimmed by fifteen to twenty minutes and I’d have liked it a whole lot more. Still, there’s plenty to like in this grounded, charming little flick.
“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”
Norman Maclean (Joseph Gordon-Levitt, “Don Jon”) and his younger brother Paul (Vann Gravage) come of age under the watchful eyes of their strict minister father (Tom Skerritt, “Alien”) and their mother (Brenda Blethyn, “Secrets & Lies”). After a grown Norman (Craig Sheffer, “Nightbreed”) returns from Chicago where he went to college, he reunites with his grown brother Paul (Brad Pitt, “Once Upon a Time in Hollywood”) and the two form new memories while Norman decides what it is he’d like to do with his life. Norman eventually meets Jessie Burns (Emily Lloyd, “Wish You Were Here”), and begins to fall in love with her.
This is a good little slice of life film. Not a lot really happens other than we spend time with two brothers in rural Montana, growing up with them and learning their way of life. I don’t mind a good slice of life film; the great ones can be absolute masterpieces (like “Roma”). This film, while I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, is certainly an enjoyable ride complete with moments that are thrilling, mysterious, tragic, romantic, and incredibly humorous, and, it is shot in an absolutely gorgeous way. If you were just looking for a two-hour drama filled with whatever it is you usually find in slice of life films, this would not at all be a bad place to look, but if you’re expecting something along the caliber of “Boyhood” or “Patterson”, know that this film is not quite that good.
One thing I loved about this film was the writing. Much of the narration, it seems, was lifted directly from Norman Maclean’s memoirs, and I found that the sincerity of his words really helped me to connect to the world of fly-fishing in rural Montana. I am no sports fan, as I have relayed in pretty much any review for any movie that has to do with sports, so any movie that gets me to care about the sport in question is already doing a fairly good job. I have no interest in fly-fishing, but this film made me see the allure of standing knee-deep in water, whipping the line back and forth in a way that might entice a trout, and I honestly think the writing had a lot to do with that. The way Norman’s words talk about the artistry that it takes to cast a line the way his brother did was absolutely beautiful, and you can tell from those same words how much Paul meant to his brother, and how high of regard he held him.
I really liked the way this film looked at the two brothers and their two paths that they took in life. Norman is very much a by-the-books kind of guy; he sticks to the rules, doesn’t go out of his way to impress woman, and likes to quote literature with his father. Paul is a bit more rambunctious; he’s got a taste for liquor and dangerous adventure, he’s willing to stick his nose in someone else’s business if that person and he don’t see eye to eye. The fact that Paul is more of a troublemaker adds a bit of mystery to the film as well. Norman, having left Montana for six years, has a gap in his knowledge about what it is his brother did and whom his brother knows. So, when Norman returns, his brother is a much different person than when he first left, and that different person is largely left in the shadows, only peeking his head out when Norman mightn’t expect it.
In the latter half of the film, the hidden parts of Paul’s personality seem to cast a cloud of darkness over the Maclean family. The Reverend, Mother, and Norman all seem to know something is wrong with Paul, but none of them want to bring it up. They allow Paul to tell them stories (he works at a newspaper), but Paul is always the first to leave the dinner table, the first to disappear whenever he can. There seems an impending sense of doom, an underlying layer of filth that runs through the otherwise beautiful state of Montana. That layer of filth adds a bit of depth to a story that would have been a very peaceful ordeal, and it certainly helped add a bit more emotion near the end.
Verdict:
This is a very solid slice of life film that I would recommend if you’re in the mood for an easy-going drama with a bit of an emotional punch at the end. I do think it is a touch too long, but other than that, this movie is very satisfying.
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