GurlyIamBeach Instant Favorite.

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Rexanne It’s sentimental, ridiculously long and only occasionally funny

vegfemnat The film is brilliant and a must see as other reviewers have already mentioned. The acting is masterclass and together with the brilliantly written dialogue paints the characters and their interactions in the fewest strokes possible. No wasted dialogues that bring nothing new to the story. I will not waste time mentioning how good Hal Holbrook is in the movie since every other reviewer has already done that.Instead I have to mention Ray McKinnon's performance as the troubled self-destructive alcoholic who s struggling to straighten himself out for the sake of his family. His portrayal both scares for being the dormant maniac that is at the edge of being unleashed at every stage and at the same time saddens for him being unable to reform himself due to a lot of external factors - him being unable to find a steady income , an old dude trying to snatch his family's home from him, his daughter dating a guy's son whom he detests for supposedly having stolen his grandfather's watch. The low lit sequences of him sitting in front of the television knee deep in self loathing and the weight of past regrets hanging over him is both scary and sad at the same time. At one point he tells his wife "People just can't understand that a guy can change". Ray McKinnon's Lonzo Choat is unforgettable.The only issue I had with the movie was with its messy third act. I mean I can understand the story treading a little offbeat path in its final stage to bring about a certain sense of realism and a non- cliché end. But it was too off putting for me. It was abrupt and doesn't give a sense of closure. I had already invested so much time in the Choat family and was at least hoping to see where things go for them. But the movie just completely disregards their plight at the end showing us nothing of them whatsoever. My heart was yearning to know what happens to them afterwards.But still a definite masterpiece with some brilliant shots and outstanding character studies. I'll definitely watch this a second time.

dabbott-119-716334 The acting is excellent as is the rest of the production elements. The plot is downright flabbergasting. It is as if Stephen Segal stepped in to save an old man from being humiliated by a bunch of rednecks and they beat up Segal and continue to humiliate the old guy for the rest of the hour and a half film.One could argue that this is the way life happens.One could say the same for snuff filmsA small plot change would have saved this filmBarry Corbin is always wonderful to watch.The film depressed me.

cheryllynecox-1 There is a lot to recommend Scott Teems "That Evening Sun", and I'm happy I was able to catch a recent screening as a premier event of the Tallahassee Film Festival. Kindly indulge my regional preference for literature and the performing arts, but you really can't beat the local color of the rural South. This melancholy narrative is driven by simmering grudges,ill-gotten gains, and combustible relationships. It's as though William Faulker and Flannery O'Connor collaborated on Teem's script with its southern Gothic allusions and ironic events.Hal Holbrook as the title character, Abner Meecham, is brilliant with his tenacious attitude, and wizened expressions. He may be old, but he's still capable, resourceful, and completely self-absorbed. Dream sequences and memories allow us to see his softer side as he relives tender moments with his late wife (played by the bewitching Dixie Carter, his real-life wife). He receives little support from his son, a busy attorney well-played by Walton Goggins. Their mutual disaffection is palpable and practically Shakespearean. Abner is not easy to love.Abner's primary nemesis, Lonzo Choat, is a surly ne'er-do-well who relies as much on his monthly disability check as he does on cheap beer. Ray McKinnon gets a lot of mileage out of Choat's brutal nature and proprietary relationships. His rustic wife (Carrie Preston) and daughter (Mia Wasikowska) each exhibit individual strengths, but can't overcome the overarching power of Lonzo Choat.Barry Corbin also lends a powerful performance as Abner's long-time neighbor and fellow octogenarian, Thurl Chessor. Abner and Thurl have known each other long enough that conversation is perfunctory, but comfortable. Neither wastes words nor breath, they are comfortable passing time without much fuss or muss, but not too much time lest they seem too dependent, too feminine."That Evening Sun" is beautifully shot capturing the simple bucolic beauty of rural Tennessee as kudzu slowly reclaims abandoned barns, and landscapes buzz with the heat and activity of hidden hives and birdsong. The soundtrack is a nod to depression-era country crooners, and Jimmie Rodgers adds the ideal poetic punctuation with his yearning yodels. I will see this one again.

Turfseer 2009 seems to be the year of the cantankerous curmudgeon as far as the movies are concerned. With Clint Eastwood's 'Gran Torino', Pixar's 'Up' and now first-time writer-director Scott Teem's 'That Evening Sun', the focus is on the octogenarian who refuses to be put 'out to pasture' and take 'one last fling' at life; to prove at the very least that even elderly people have some dignity in spite of the indifference of an uncaring, younger generation.Hal Holbrook lands the the plum part of Abner Meechum, the 80 year old country boy who flees the nursing home where he's been living for the past few months. It seems that his well-intentioned son Paul, a successful lawyer, convinced him to check in at the home after breaking his hip in a fall back at the family farm. Even Abner acknowledges that he would have died had his neighbor not checked in on him after the accident.But Abner still has some spunk left (unlike the tired and complacent denizens of the nursing home) and manages to make his way back to the family farm (aided by a sympathetic cab driver, initially hired by the nursing home to bring the curmudgeon back). When Abner does arrive home, he's shocked to learn that local ne'er-do-well Lonzo Choat, along with his wife and teenage daughter are living in his house and have a rent with an option to buy agreement with son Paul. Abner has known Choat for years and always regarded him as 'white trash'; we soon learn that Abner's evaluation of Choat is correct: he's been living on disability for years, is now broke and is an alcoholic to boot.Abner decides to move in to the sharecropper shack on the property. He adopts a dog from kindly neighbor Thurl which infuriates Choat, who can't stand the dog's continuous barking. The conflict escalates when Choat begins whipping his daughter Pamela's date after they have returned from a late night foray; the date manages to escape by driving off the farm in a car and Choat turns his wrath on his wife and daughter, whipping them with the garden hose until Abner puts an end to it by firing a shot in the air. Choat is further infuriated after Abner reports the incident to the local sheriff's office. Although Choat is brought in for questioning, he's ultimately released; it's obvious that the wife and daughter end up refusing to press charges.While there's tons of sympathy for feisty Abner, ultimately we're asked to view him as a victim. On the other hand, Choat is a despicable character—someone who beats his womenfolk and even stoops to killing Abner's dog as payback for being turned into the police. Paul victimizes poor Abner further by assuming that his father is nuts, disbelieving his claims that Choat was guilty of domestic violence (Paul has a deep chip on his shoulder—blaming his father for most of his problems and claiming that he also mistreated his now-deceased mother). This supposedly explains why he's not interested in taking any of his father's accusations seriously (you would think that a normal person would be curious as to why Abner has brought his pet to a taxidermist and had it stuffed, but Paul simply blurts out, "we're not going to go there"). Poor Abner—he's become a symbol of another 'marginalized' minority group—this time, the elderly! Another perplexing issue is Paul's willingness to rent the house to the Choats in the first place. Is he totally ignorant of the Choats' reputation in the community? Or does he hate his father so much that he totally rejects his father's opinion about them and willing to give Lonzo a break? Certainly the Choats have a 'history' in the community and Paul cannot be unaware of that. Why rent a house with someone who's on disability who can't really afford it? We never find out why Paul is so altruistic toward Lonzo; certainly he's made no inquiries as to Lonzo's true financial status (and this is a lawyer who's renting the house?). Paul could have made a few inquiries as to Lonzo's character, independent of his father's accusations (Why not talk to the family of Pamela's date?—he could have then ascertained that his father was telling the truth about Lonzo). Like Lonzo, Paul is simply not a well-developed enough character.Despite the imbalance in the narrative between the protagonist and antagonist, Holbrook holds his own amongst the great curmudgeons 'of our day'. It's a nuanced performance that mixes pathos with humor and occasionally offers some real surprises (I was truly thrown for a loop after seeing how Abner responds once Choat kills his pet). Mia Wasikowska is equally fine as the low-key teenager who has poor timing in trying to bond with Abner as she walks in on him at the very moment he's about to kill himself.Choat does save Abner's life but it isn't enough for us to change our minds about him. The ending to 'That Evening Sun' is ambiguous. Does Abner die at the end and meet his wife in heaven? Or does he recover from the burns he suffered in the fire and pay one last visit to the farm?—only to head out to the assisted living facility, suggested by his son. And what of the Choats? Does the son allow them to remain or are they history since they're broke and can't pay the rent?'That Evening Sun' has received a substantial number of positive accolades. Are they justified? If you look at the plot, in which the deck is stacked in favor of the protagonist—with the antagonists receiving short shrift, then I would be inclined to disagree with all the favorable reviews. But if you focus on Hal Holbrook's character and his performance, then I can understand why the film has garnered such a positive response.