Writer-director Brett Wagner’s feature zeroes in on two young families whose getaway to a remote corner of Texas veers into rough terrain.
is technically true but also a wild understatement. The stark and unsettling beauty of West Texas, with its cliffs and canyons and ghost towns, isn’t mere backdrop to this well-observed drama; it infuses the movie on a molecular level.’s atmospheric feature — which has begun its theatrical journey a couple of years after playing the fest circuit — revolves around a holiday get-together that proves anything but relaxing for two couples and their school-age kids.
Long before a visit to the national park turns disastrous, the four actors are superb at conveying the connections and rifts among their characters, and the ways this reunion will not be a simple vacation. The groaning water heater that Mac intends to repair adds an ominous bass note to the sense of looming calamity.
Mac and Georgia’s sons are about the same ages as the visiting girls, and the kids quickly establish a rapport. But the younger girl, Fiona , has a tendency to wander off — onto the moonlit porch to peer into the outspread desert, or, later, into the welcoming sphere of exceptionally amenable wild horses. With a creative purposefulness that artists in nearby Marfa would admire, she constructs a kind of Rube Goldberg water sculpture.
What drives the movie isn’t this action contrivance, though it’s nicely played by Masciangelo and the young Wagner and reveals the drama’s underlying optimism . The beating heart ofis something more amorphous, the emotional pressures that each of the couples are facing, and how their time together in this rugged terrain pushes them to the surface.
United Kingdom Latest News, United Kingdom Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Movie Review: The Big BendThings get weird on a family vacation to the West Texas desert
Read more »
Husky Roster Review: Valdez Hopes to Go From Big Sky to UW Big DealThe Montana State transfer was brought in to shore up a key area for Big Ten play.
Read more »
Rancho Palos Verdes Takes First Big Step Towards Possibly Slowing Portuguese Bend SlideJacob Margolis covers science for the LAist and KPCC newsroom.
Read more »
Rancho Palos Verdes Takes First Big Step Towards Possibly Slowing Portuguese Bend SlideJacob Margolis covers science for the LAist and KPCC newsroom.
Read more »
Unchecked Terlingua growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water — a prelude for TexasNo one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua, Texas. Residents worry their wells will run dry, as developers and local officials cheer the…
Read more »
Unchecked growth around Big Bend sparks debate over water — a prelude for TexasNo one knows how much water sits beneath the desert of Terlingua in far West Texas. Residents say the region’s wells are running dry. Meanwhile, developers and local officials promise there is plenty of water to sustain the desert town — and its visitors — for decades.
Read more »