[yasr_overall_rating]
Unsatisfied with his small town life, Dwayne McLaren hatches a get rich quick plan to get out and move on but things go awry and cause a chain of events that shake up a town unaccustomed to murder.
With a cast including John Malkovich, Billy Bob Thorton, and Bruce Dern, I had high hopes for “Cut Bank” and was interested in seeing Liam Hemsworth in something other than “The Hunger Games” movies. Ultimately, I was disappointed. That is not to say the film is unwatchable or wasn’t mildly entertaining because it was but it simply fell flat. Maybe I went in expecting too much, but when I am watching a film where the main character desires to leave his small town dwellings, I at least want to either love the guy and champion him all the way or hate the guy and pray for his demise. Dwayne McLaren (Liam Hemsworth) made me feel nothing. I simply didn’t care what happened to him and didn’t think him deserving of any good fortune. And his girlfriend Cassandra Steeley (Teresa Palmer) wasn’t any better. Actually, her sweet simplicity was more compelling than Dwayne’s indifferent bland demeanor.
The most compelling character for me was Derby Milton (Michael Stuhlbarg), a reclusive resident of Cut Bank, who everyone assumed was dead for reasons unknown (seems to be a running joke throughout the film). Derby keeps to himself and plays with dead things but when an expected parcel doesn’t arrive, he makes an appearance in town inquiring about the location of his parcel. I can identify entirely with Derby’s obsession over his parcel, as I am just as obsessive over such things. For me, this film became all about Derby and his quest for this mysterious parcel.
The audience knows where the parcel is and why it’s missing, and it seems silly that a string of murders become necessary for Derby to achieve his success, but the murders and Derby’s quest become more gratifying than feeling any compassion for Dwayne’s situation that was entirely brought on by himself for doing things the hard way. Derby’s parcel is missing because of Dwayne’s botched up deal with a quirky mailman, Georgie Wits (Bruce Dern) and a mute Native American.
Overall, the film had the potential to be something better if perhaps it had a different focus or another actor playing the protagonist. The scenery was beautiful and compelling and even the small town set up and background characters were almost perfect in capturing that particular small town feeling but the story itself was shallow, and irritatingly takes you places that lead to nowhere. You have your small town sheriff, kids who want out, the town recluse, sleazy city slicker, cantankerous mailman and the mysterious Native American, components that you would think could make a worthwhile film but in the end it all falls flat. In short, the film can be compared to the mass production of classical statues and busts made for cheap home decoration, the foundations are there but it lacks the intrigue and magnificence of the original.
In select theaters & On Demand
