Drama

Walking out (2017)

Published

5 years ago

May 7, 2018

An urban teenager journeys to Montana to hunt big game with his estranged father. Father and son struggle to connect, until a brutal encounter in the heart of the wilderness changes everything.

Genre : Drama
Country : USA

Cast :
Matt Bomer : Cal
Josh Wiggins : David
Bill Pullman : Clyde

Director :
Alex Smith , Andrew Smith

My opinion on “Walking Out”

“I’ll put myself between you and any bear.
I promise.”

“Walking out” is a story about a father and son who experience their annual get-together again and try to strengthen the wafer-thin bond that still exists between them. In addition, it’s also a story about survival in the wild nature. The well-known story of man against nature and defying all sorts of hardships. If you see a summary somewhere that mentions some fierce-looking bears and their behavior towards this moose chasing couple, then you shouldn’t get too excited. Because this section is just like the rest of the film. Fairly common. So don’t expect exciting images as in “Backcountry” or “The Revenant“.

Living like a Grizzly Adams has his charms.

Unfortunately, the rest of the film is as empty as the snowy plain of Paradise Valley in Montana where these two are looking for the colossal moose chosen by Father Cal (Matt Bomer) for his son David (Josh “Hellion” Wiggins). Besides the fact that this is a kind of tradition in his family where young men hunt their first big game at the age of 14. This is also a way for Cal to load up his meat stock for the winter to come (“Well, they make 600 pounds of delicious meat. A winter’s worth.“). The reason why Cal left his family and retired to live as a Grizzly Adams in the middle of nowhere, isn’t really clear. Maybe he made that decision during a nostalgic moment and there was this urge to return to the place where he and his father used to go hunting. Maybe he hopes to hang out with his son and teach him the art of hunting so maybe David also gets the taste of living in this primitive way. But the way David is attached to comfort and electronic gadgets, however, makes me suspect that this is just vain hope.

Ravishing images of this wild country.

What can you expect while watching this movie? First of all, a dozen beautiful images of nature images which are perfect for a postcard. Are you an avid nature lover? Or you hike through the woods at regular times? Or you joined the scouts and experienced a series of camps in the past? Well, in that case this film will get you into the mood with all its campfire moments. Furthermore, it’s a beautiful story about the faltering relationship of a father and son. A film about hunting and the art of hunting. Cal tries to make it clear that there is a big difference between hunting wild and simply killing it. And this on the basis of his own moose story. Cal’s youth experience is told throughout the film using flashbacks. A romanticized story in 8mm camera image quality.

A movie about perseverance and mutual trust.

And then there’s the incident after which the roles are reversed. Undoubtedly the most intense part of the entire film where perseverance plays an important role. The film also shows how the wide rift between the two slowly becomes narrower. David who secretly wished he wasn’t there at the beginning but rather would have been in his comfort zone in Texas. And he seems slightly annoyed during difficult conversations. And Cal believes that his son has become too soft. These impressions tilt as the journey progresses and give way to mutual trust and admiration. “Walking out” is a beautiful nature film and also shows how complex human feelings are. But I can’t really call it exciting.

My rating 5/10
Links : IMDB

FILM RATING

Drama

Jharrel Jerome and Jennifer Lopez to Headline ‘Unstoppable’ for Ben Affleck & Matt Damon’s Production Company

Published

4 days ago

March 22, 2023

Darian Scalamoni

Hot off the great reviews for the upcoming Air Jordan flick, Air, it seems that Matt Damon and Ben Affleck are already set for their next project, one that will star someone near and dear to the heart of the latter. News comes in from Deadline, that Jennifer Lopez (Hustlers, Out of Sight) will star in the upcoming wrestling drama Unstoppable which comes from the new Artists Equity banner from Affleck and Damon, as well as Amazon. Additionally, in a separate report, we know that Emmy-winning actor Jharrel Jerome (When They See Us, Moonlight) will star as the lead of the film, playing the son of JLo’s character.

Unstoppable will star Jerome as three-time All-American wrestler Anthony Robles, an athlete born with one leg who persevered through his inspiring story to win a National Championship at Arizona State University. Lopez is set to play his supportive mother, Judy Robles. Robles, himself, is expected to be heavily involved in the production process of the film, which again, is set to stream on Amazon and produced by Amazon Studios. The latter news makes a lot of sense, following the early success of Air and the partnership forged between Amazon and Artists Equity on that particular project. Production on Unstoppable is expected to start sometime this Summer.

Lopez appeared on screen in two romance films last year with Amazon’s Shotgun Wedding and Marry Me which got a same day release in theaters and on Peacock. She’ll next appear in The Mother on Netflix which is directed by Mulan director Niki Caro.

Jerome is best known for his Emmy-winning role as Korey Wise in the limited Netflix series When They See Us based on the Central Park Five which was directed by Ava DuVernay. He’ll soon be seen in Steven Soderbergh’s HBO Max series Full Circle before leading Amazon’s I’m a Virgo from Sorry to Bother You filmmaker Boots Riley.

FILM RATING

Adventure

‘1883’ Spinoff Series ‘Bass Reeves’ Adds Dennis Quaid to Cast

Published

2 months ago

January 20, 2023

Darian Scalamoni

Dennis Quaid (Far from Heaven, The Day After Tomorrow) is the latest star to join the cast of Bass Reeves, a new drama series coming from Taylor Sheridan (Yellowstone, Tulsa King) and Paramount+, according to Deadline. Bass Reeves was announced as a spinoff to the Yellowstone prequel, 1883 back in May 2022 with David Oyelowo (Selma, A Wrinkle in Time) attached to star as the legendary lawman.

Bass Reeves will follow Oyelowo as someone who is known to many as “the greatest frontier hero” in American history in his own series on Paramount+. The streamer already houses so many Sheridan-fronted programs, most recently, Mayor of Kingstown starring Jeremy Renner returned for its second season while CIA drama, Lioness added to its cast with Nicole Kidman and Morgan Freeman. Some believe that Reeves served inspiration to “The Lone Ranger” having worked as a peace officer for Indian territory capturing over 3,000 criminals on that land. Quaid will play Sherrill Lynn, a Deputy U.S. Marshall within the show.

Quaid most recently voiced the character Jaeger Clade in Disney’s animated feature Strange World which is currently available to stream on Disney+. He’ll also star in Steven Soderbergh’s upcoming HBO Max series Full Circle alongside Zazie Beetz, Claire Danes and Emmy-winner Jharrel Jerome.

FILM RATING

Drama

Amy Winehouse Biopic ‘Back to Black’ Adds to Cast with Jack O’Connell, Eddie Marsan and Lesley Manville

Published

2 months ago

January 19, 2023

Darian Scalamoni

Let the casting of music biopics commence! As we’ve been hammered with news of superstar musician biopics each and every week, we have more news of one that is filming currently with Back to Black about the late, great Amy Winehouse. While it was reported back in January that Industry star, Marisa Abela will be leading as Winehouse, we now have details courtesy of Deadline on who will be joining the British pop star’s life story on screen.

The report indicates that Jack O’Connell (Unbroken, ’71), Lesley Manville (Phantom Thread, Another Year) and Eddie Marsan (Ray Donovan, The World’s End) will all appear alongside Abela in Back to Black. O’Connell is set to play Blake Fielder-Civil, the love of Winehouse’s life who she was married to from 2007 until 2009, just a few years prior to her death as their love was unfortunately addled by prescription drug abuse and alcohol as well as multiple stints in rehab for both of them. Marsan will play Winehouse’s father while Manville will play Winehouse’s maternal grandmother in the film.

Back to Black will follow the life of one of the greatest singer-songwriters of all-time in Amy Winehouse. Her sophomore album (which the film is named after) won her 5 Grammy Awards all at the young age of 25 just before her untimely death in 2011 at age 27. The film will focus on Amy’s creativity, genius and upbringing at Camden High School in the UK before she propelled into stardom.

The film will be written by Matt Greenhalgh and directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson reuniting the two of them after their 2009 film Nowhere Boy, which chronicled John Lennon’s formative years and adolescence. Taylor-Johnson is coming off directing episodes of Hunters and Solos for Amazon but is best known for helming Fifty Shades of Grey.

O’Connell had a big 2022 starring in Netflix’s Lady Chatterly’s Lover and MGM+’s new original series, SAS Rogue Heroes. He’ll next star as professional race car driver Peter Collins in Ferrari. Manville most recently starred as Princess Margaret in the recent season of The Crown for Netflix and in Mrs. Harris Goes to Paris for which she earned a Golden Globe nomination. Marsan is best known for playing Ray Donovan‘s brother, Terry in the hit Showtime series but will next appear in the film, Fair Play with Alden Ehrenreich and Phoebe Dynevor.

FILM RATING