Disappointing low-key modern film noir.
Coastlines (2006)
Runtime: 1 hr 59 mins
Synopsis: Returning earlier than expected, Sonny finds that not much has changed since he left...except now the Vances owe him $200,000 for the time he spent in jail and, perhaps not surprisingly, they don't seem anxious to pay up any time soon. Sonny's best friends from childhood, Deputy Sheriff... Returning earlier than expected, Sonny finds that not much has changed since he left...except now the Vances owe him $200,000 for the time he spent in jail and, perhaps not surprisingly, they don't seem anxious to pay up any time soon. Sonny's best friends from childhood, Deputy Sheriff Dave Lockhart and his Nurse Practitioner wife, Ann, still live the kind of quiet, rural life that defines community: their safely sheltered commitment to each other unchallenged and supported by their deep belief in contributing to the welfare of others. It is exactly the kind of life Sonny now looks at with longing: years of state-imposed prohibition giving rise to a newly felt envy. Other than that, life on the Gulf Coast continues as it has for decades. Shrimpers still take to the dark waters at night to lure their catch; oystermen tend the shallow beds that stretch on for miles; the pelicans, cranes and dolphins play languidly at the water's surface. The smell of development dollars also permeates the air, however, and the associated ambitions of Sonny's former partners-in-crime threaten to overwhelm the local world. The Vances' attempt to get Sonny out of the way only spurs him on. Although it's Dave's job to watch out for Sonny (as much as it is Ann's to heal him), isolation, desire and regret threaten to overtake all three as Sonny's drive toward both self-destruction and retribution careens explosively out of control. -- © IFC Films [More]
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Josh Brolin, Timothy Olyphant, Angela Bettis, Josh Lucas, Sarah Wynter
DVD Info
Release:
Jun 2, 2007
DVD Features:
- Region 1
- Keep Case
- Widescreen - 1.78
- Single Side - Single Layer
Audio:
- Dolby Digital 5.1 - English
- Subtitles - English - Optional
Reviews
Again, Nunez proves himself a master of understatement, presenting another poignant, slice-of-life drama peopled with vulnerable, fully fleshed-out characters caught-up in a complex situation.
It's flawed but no less fascinating for its mood of simmering tension on the fringes of the American dream.
There's so much simmering behind the characters that the film seems to get away from Nunez, which is fine. The messy emotions and illogic of human nature defines this drama.
The third entry lacks the subtle power of the previous two efforts.
The talent is still there, the film better than most. It just needs less crime, more love.
Keeps you entertained throughout its two hours, which says a lot about Nunez's storytelling.
A skeeter noir bogged down in the unconvincing pulp of a melodrama without conviction.
Proves that while Ulee's Gold was an exceptional movie, it wasn't a fluke. Nuņez just needs to search past the Panhandle for fresh material.
Despite good performances, this attempt to intertwine a crime thriller with a love triangle never gels...Fans of Ulee's Gold, Ruby in Paradise, and A Flash of Green are likely to feel disappointed by this decidedly lesser effort.
The stuff of pulp, seriously at odds with what the writer-director has always done best. That is, show the inner workings of people, their needs, their fears, their small dreams.
Nunez's fans will appreciate his ability to evoke a palpable atmosphere. But there's just not enough spark in his scorched setting.
Longtime independent writer-director Victor Nunez brings a rare combination of homegrown regional sensibility and genuine filmmaking skills to his low-key stories of small-town life on Florida's gulf coast.
Nunez's multidimensional character development, with fine performances by Olyphant, Brolin, Wynter and Angela Bettis as one of Sonny's old flames, lends weight to the schematic plot points.
[The love triangle] plays more like canned heat than blazing inferno...
It's a heartfelt movie that could have used a zigzaggier undercurrent, though Olyphant, in the sort of role that Paul Newman used to swagger through, has a star's easy command.
As they say, two out of three ain't bad, and we look forward to more winners by Nunez.
Sometimes it's best to leave those old scripts in the trunk, a view borne out by Coastlines,a melodramatic step backward for writer-director Victor Nunez after his last two pictures.
Enough of the ingredients for a sultry downscale noir are in place in Coastlines, that once the film turns perversely goody-good, it leaves you feeling vaguely disgruntled.
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