[yasr_overall_rating]
When a U.S. congressman’s daughter passing through a small town in Mississippi dies in a mysterious triple homicide, a team of F.B.I. agents descends to investigate.
Miles Doleac has balls. The man wrote an intricately-structured (well, comparatively) script, assembled a cast of B-movie stalwarts, then proceeded to produce and direct “The Hollow” himself… and actually managed to get away with it. The result, while not a classic by any means, may catch you off-guard with its sly socio-political commentary, breakbeat pace, muscular acting and an unabashed commitment to its sleazy, murky, highly unethical roots. A vicious alligator in a swamp of terrible straight-to-VOD releases, this Southern action/thriller introduces a new, brave talent to the filmmaking world. Whether he lives up to the potential displayed here remains to be seen.
“The Hollow” starts with the ultimate “Bad Lieutenant” scene: Officer Ray Everett (Doleac) is getting a blowjob from a “lot lizard” while dealing drugs, parked in a shady alley in Small Town, Mississippi. It doesn’t take long (a few seconds, really) for the film to establish him as a chauvinist, racist, filthy redneck, a corrupted man with a mean Southern drawl covered in beads of sweat and cum. When a horny couple asks him for directions to a nearby motel, Ray sends them to the titular Hollow instead (“Don’t nobody bother you there.”). I’m not spoiling much by revealing that the naive couple gets murdered – but not before hearing a shot ring out in the darkness of the Hollow.
Turns out it was a triple homicide, and one of the victims was a U.S. congressman’s daughter. Divorced FBI agent Vaughn Killinger (James Callis) and his partner (both professionally and sexually) Sarah Desoto (Christiane Seidel) fly in from D.C. to investigate. In the meantime, the local Sheriff, Beau McKinney (William Sadler), chews Ray out, suspecting he had something to do with the murder. Vaughn and Sarah encounter a “strict disciplinarian” football coach who beats his players with a paddle; Big John Dawson (William Forsythe), a country lawyer who “runs this town,” and whose grandson is a quarterback in the local team (and who may or may not be involved in the case); and a slew of other toothless, tattoo-covered characters…
But the film is really about the world closing in on Ray, who’s given a chance for “penance”; in the words of John Dawson, “This is scandalous, boy!” Not even Ray’s father, Darryl (Jeff Fahey, in what amounts to little more than a cameo), can provide decent advice: “I can’t blame you for using what little talent you got to provide for your family.” It all leads to a rainy stand-off, heavily indebted to Morricone and Tarantino but effective nevertheless (and hilarious! the puking!). The conclusion of the film – and I’m referring to where Vaughn ends up at the very end – is hilariously misguided.
Miles Doleac gives a commanding presence as Ray, a force to be reckoned with, channeling all the bad cops – Denzel in “Training Day,” Keitel in (and Cage in the Southern remake of) “Bad Lieutenant,” Woody Harrelson in “Rampage.” A somewhat-loving father at home, a cowering imbecile in front of his boss, and an unleashed beast everywhere else, he gives himself all the best lines, spitting them out with pure vehemence. The rest of the actors all seem in on the joke. James Callis, whom I loved so much in TV’s splendid “Battlestar Galactica,” revels in the clichéd role of a sulking divorcee; his shining moment comes about halfway through the film, where he delivers a speech to a hillbilly redneck worthy of applause.
Sure, this film ain’t perfect. It’s filled with expository dialogue; it could’ve been shorter (I’d cut out the twangy lovemaking sequence, for one; the women get severely underserved (Candice Michele Barley as Ray’s wife Trish particularly could use more room to breathe, in a small-but-delicate performance)… But the film’s combination of knowingly hilarious wisecracks and silly exchanges saves it. “What did I do to piss you off? It ain’t like I asked to take you ’round back and fuck you sideways,” a character exclaims. “There’s an attorney general out back… U.S. attorney general,” another character clarifies. “You know I don’t like it when you do that, right?” a female character asks Ray. “What?” he snarls. “Sexually harass me,” she replies nonchalantly. “A make-out session gone south,” Vaughn says, leaning over the dead bodies. “No pun intended.”
What primarily makes “The Hollow” worthy of at least a rental is that it’s consistently entertaining, a near-perfect example of a B-movie. It’s also a surprisingly hilarious satire of a certain area of the South and its ignorant, Bible-spouting, alcohol-loathing residents. Yes, it’s not cerebral entertainment, nor will it change your life or linger in your memory for longer than the aftertaste of moonshine, but as midnight fare goes, this will do the trick. Robert Rodriguez – another auteur who “cuts,” shoots, directs and even scores his B-flicks, should watch his back. Miles Doleac is coming for him.
In select theaters October 7th
First I would like to clarify that we are not ignorant southerners, I’m sure this type of thing happen all over the country. Because it was filmed in the South we are deemed as ignorant and I for one consider this misinformed! I suppose if it were filmed in the North, they would be ignorant Northerners, but I don’t recall ever hearing or seeing this statement about the North.