A while ago I was real happy to find out that She Whigham will have a leading role, something he truly deserves and rarely gets, and this time in a small town crime neo-noir, no less. And Michael Shannon co-leading? Now that's a recipe I could get excited for. I'm happy to report that the performances are the absolute standout factor of "The Quarry". The rest? Certainly effortful, genre-fitting and ambitious, but ultimately confused.
"The Quarry" is a an existentialist tale of guilt, wrapped up in all the known elements of a neo-noir, begging to be a Coen Brothers movie, but lighting a fuse too long for it only fizzle out at the end. However, it goes great before it gets worse. In the first half we meet Shea Whigham's drifter with heavy emotional burden on his shoulders who assumes the identity of a travelling preacher and takes his place at a small town's church. The character is in search of hope while being caught in continuous conflict with himself, full of heartbreak, and is one of the consistently effective elements of "The Quarry", showcasing a tremendous, authentic and felt-through performance by Shea Whigham. Michael Shannon plays the town's Chief, suspecting a foul play in the mystery of the town's new reverend, and is also the other most stable foundation of "The Quarry". The rest of the cast plays along equally well, in togetherness creating a decent portrait of a small town community. Problem is, the slow-burning story that's seemingly building up an exciting showdown, starts getting more and more tiring around the middle of it & in the end we get led to a much expected albeit decent conclusion, clothed up in all that's underwhelming. In other words, the filmmaker's intentions are not quite clear, and the movie, as elegant as it is, ends up being a pale imitation of many better movies. A commendable aspect of "The Quarry" is its design - it's photographed quite beautifully and is never really boring visually, while also being accompanied by Heather McIntosh's subtly and silently threatening original score.
"The Quarry" has such terrific performances and good aesthetical design that it's actually such a shame that story wound up as confused and unpolished as it did. I liked it, but it could've been so much better. Unrelated to my complaints, but it's funny how they sell it on the poster - "From a write of Narcos: Mexico". Well, he wrote a single episode. Despite all, the summary of this neo-noir, in my opinion, lands a mark above average, and might just contain of the best acting performances of Shea Whigham's career. My rating: 6/10.
