I was actually looking forward to seeing this film at the Austin film festival, but I was a little disappointed. The plot, although interesting and somewhat emotional, is presented in a tricky and sometimes confusing way. After seeing the movie, I looked to the person sitting next to me, and asked if they knew what had just happened. After seeing "Things that Hang from Trees", I went to its page here on this website and read the plot. To my surprise, it was completely different than what I thought it would say. Now that I think about it, it makes sense, but I shouldn't have to read the plot after the film to find out what the heck was going on. Nice try by the director, a period piece requires a lot of work and it truly shows in the overall picture and look of the film, but the story is just not there...
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rasecz1 April 2006An asthmatic kid in a town populated by dysfunctional individuals, beat up by the local bully, harassed by a religious busybody, befriended by a wino, ignored by a mother more interested in running her sexy lingerie shop, and an absent father that comes back to haunt the family. Mix those elements together, stir some uneven acting, pepper with dialogue right from typical Hollywood dregs and serve with an expressionless kid better suited for a poker table. The result of such a recipe cannot be appetizing. It isn't. Nonetheless there is a plot. It emerges slowly and ends in a climatic drama. Too bad the story gets clobbered by a sloppy directorial debut.
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This film is a bore. i like unconventional, foreign and art films, but they have to have a character or story element that holds some kind of interest. this lacks any interesting element or character. Unger is strong, and her character could have saved this film, but alas, it just doesn't happen. for me there is nothing worse than an art film that is filled with clichés. weak effort.
I guess the biggest problem was the script, but it's the director's responsibility to recognize those problems and turn clichés into original and interesting characters, or dispense with them. when the boys father shows up and is a nasty a**hole, it's just another eyeball rolling moment. This film is loaded with them. although it looks good and is shot well enough, the story-telling is just amateurish. -
jamesmarlas2 June 20061 of the locally shot films in the Jacksonville Film Festival. A series of creepy, moody events guide this bare bones plot about a semi-retarded kid wanting to see the July 4 fireworks. The kid drifts through the days and seems barely aware of his cringe-inducing father, drug-addled mother (Deborah Kara Unger who poses in negligee in her store front window) and spiteful Christian weirdo neighbor. There are tons of weirdos in this film. The main character basically bumps into all of them along his way to see the fireworks.
This brings me to my only real issue with this film. There are almost too many unpleasant aspects of the south squashed into what is really just a straightforward story about a kid with a very kid-like goal. At times it weighs down the film.
The actors were all good. A seriously sexy Deborah Kara Unger was born to play roles like this.
Overall I liked the film a lot and thought it was a nice break from the norm. -
eliasteven27 May 2006Saw this at SXSW and liked it. The flick centers around a sort-of-autistic kid? whose whacked-out mother (Deborah Unger) models lingerie in the window of her store. The characters are all pretty grotesque and are almost more a symbol to the kid instead of believable peoples. (especially the kids abusive dad played by one of my favs -the crazy priest in Deadwood---Ray McKinnon.) My main problem with the film is the lack of any magical quality to the tree of which the whole film is named?
The acting (casting especially) was good, the story is there---subtle with a deemphasis on plot which has it flirt dangerously with dullness. Every time though, the story surprises.
I found the cinematography to be one of the films strongest elements- Not perfect but pretty impressive for first time director. -
film-flam12 October 2006An extremely dark narrative about a young boy & his strange relationship with his mum (Deborah Kara Unger) who operates a sexy lingerie shop in a conservative southern township that clearly doesn't want her. (It doesn't help her situation that she models the nighties she sells in the windows storefront) Everything is tricky from the start for the young boy. He's bullied continuously & is frozen blank with fear of all that surrounds him. (Including the sickening memories of his estranged & deranged father the part played expertly by Ray McKinnon) The complications for the boy & his mother aren't simply resolved, & so the future of these characters isn't clear. The ending is enjoyably ambiguous & because of its general strangeness it will earn its spot in the genre of the cult film.
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roumanid15 June 2006A great movie at Atlanta Film Festival. A slow but atmospheric look at the strange inhabitants of a small southern town. Racism, childhood trauma and religious hypocrisy abound.
The Director spoke about the film after and mentioned that the tree in the novel held a much greater symbolic importance than was in the movie. Though I didn't read the novel I could see that being true. That in my opinion was the weakest element of the movie. The only time they showed it was during begin credits and at the end. I'll read the novel.
This movie is a cult-classic-to-be because so many different feelings and opinions can be derived from its awkward quietness and because of the beautiful imagery and rich alien atmosphere it's the kind of movie you want to see times over. -
amydoher12 June 2006The 5th and so far only worthy film I've seen this year in the Atlanta Film Festival. The story follows a a scared stiff boy that's too young and too traumatized to understand the bent characters that are harassing him. His life is a super seedy southern milieu world that grows seedier with every character he meets.
Best of all the film has an ending that as far as I'm concerned is new to cinema!
This movie was made with heart and has all the potential to become a cult classic. Especially since its far too eccentric to get major distribution. Oh, and a half naked Deborah Unger helps.