Those growing up in the early 70's will remember Glen Campbell's melancholy country ballad "Galveston". This movie with the same title is adapted from the novel "True detective" (which I haven't read), but I am not sure how much, if at all, the song is on the mind of the moviemakers. The background is not the same, as Galveston the song had an anti-war theme. But I can't help noticing that some of the lyrics could well have been written for the movie.
"Galveston, oh, Galveston.
I still hear your seawinds blowing,
I still see her dark eyes glowing"
"Galveston, oh, Galveston.
I am so afraid of dying,
Before I dry the tears she's crying".
Not the same background, but the same haunting images.
"Galveston" the movie makes you ponder life. More specifically, the lifelines of three people converge for a few days at a seaside motel called Emerald Shores, in Galveston: 40-ish world-weary hitman Roy (Ben Foster); young prostitute Rocky (Elle Fanning) who, at only 19, has already had a battered life; and 3-and-a-half sweet-as-an-angel Tiffany (played by twins Anniston and Tinsley Price).
Arguably, plotline is the least important thing for this movie which is all style and mood but then, unlike many others, also has substance. Very briefly, Roy is set up by his boss who for some reason wants him dead. Seeing this coming, he not only eliminates his assassins but also rescues Rocky who is held captive. Speeding away with Rocky beside him in the front seats, he tells her "I'll be straight with you, and you straight with me". "Deal" the girl replies crisply. Later, when they are safe (at least temporarily) and the tension reduced, she offers herself "free of charge". His reaction is somewhat unexpected. Bluntly turning her down, he simply says "You're disgusting". The reason, and I am surmising only, is that he believes that he will soon get back from a biopsy a diagnosis of terminal lung disease. Rocky is his last chance to do a good deed, to genuinely help another human being, a sort of redemption. Therefore, the platonic relationship must not be spoilt.
Just a little bit more and I am done with the plotline, lest I spoil your enjoyment in watching this movie. The word "enjoyment" needs elaboration. "Galveston" is not the usual escapism crime thriller. It is a rare gem of a noire that is often painful to watch, even though there are a few tender moments.
Roy offers to drop Rocky off at her home in Orange. After Rocky goes into the house, a gunshot is heard from inside. Before Roy can think, he has an additional passenger, Rocky's "baby sister" Tiffany. At this point, the movie reminds me of another trio: Tom Cruise, Cobie Smulders and Danika Yarosh in "Jack Reacher: Never go back". The obvious similarity is a pseudo family of 3 on the run. But then Yarosh's character is a teenager rather than a toddler. As well, the three people there are entirely unrelated.
At the aforementioned seaside motel Roy books two rooms for two weeks, as a safe house where they can lie low and figure out what to do next. In this mid-section we encounter a cast of support characters who have their respective roles to play. The key however is the relationship between Roy and Rocky.
As my "headline" (used to be called "summary line") suggests, "Galveston" excels in telling the story of Roy and Rocky. It uses a bit of the need-to-know approach. Information is disseminated efficiently as we go along, through camera work and dialogue. The dialogue is lean, as in Hemingway's prose, and brilliantly effective in not only handling the narrative but also in conveying the emotions. Director Melanie Laurent deserves a lot of credit. Those who have seen Laurent in Tarantino's "Inglorious Basterns" (2009) are unlikely to forget her performance as the young woman taking on the entire Nazi regime with a plan of blowing up Hitler in a cinema. "Galveston" amply demonstrates that the art of her deftly direction is just a beautiful as her screen appearance.
Ben Foster is among the most underrated character actors. It's really good to see him getting this role of a multi-dimensional, emotionally tortured character, which he nails. Elle Fanning, outshining her once fast rising elder sister Dakota, has been tackling a vast variety of different roles, such as matching sensuousness with Colin Farrell ("Beguiled", 2017) and head-on collision with Peter Dinklage ("I think we're not alone", 2018). Just like Foster, she has been given an opportunity to shine, and shine she did.
