Obviously it was the cast that made me want to give this a watch. I haven't seen too many (if any) Kris Kristofferson movies but do like some of his songs and know he has been pretty successful as an actor and has been in some good movies.
Val Kilmer I've always admired as an actor from Top Gun to The Doors, certainly in Tombstone and even liked him as Batman.
Hilary Duff was my first childhood crush but she usually just appeared in a lot of fluff that had its place 20 years ago but doesn't get brought up a lot today, though I do think she is still pretty and can act.
Dwight Yoakam was very good in Sling Blade.
But as Gene Siskel once said "big stars simply do not guarantee big entertainment."
Kristofferson's role is just cliched and forgettable aside from his singing there's nothing interesting about his character or performance.
Kilmer a superb scene stealing actor certainly injects some entertainment into this lethargic movie but I still have to wonder why is Val Kilmer even in this movie to begin with? I know he is known to be difficult to work with and has burned some bridges with certain directors but did he burn them bad enough that he had to make low budget material not worthy of his talent like this?
This is a man in the 80's and early 90's appeared in blockbusters and critically acclaimed films and was usually the best part of all of them. Despite keeping things alive albeit briefly here, this is a wasted role for Kilmer and just another forgettable hidden low budget film that he made up until he was sadly diagnosed with throat cancer a few years ago. He certainly deserves a better role and script than this.
Duff is also probably the other least boring part of the film. Sure she has always been pretty but here she proves a decent enough actress and i don't think she's as wooden as I or others might have expected her in a more serious role. In fact when she was on the screen I was least bored along with Kilmer.
Yoakam's role is so brief and forgettable that I honestly think I blinked and missed him. Another wasted talent, who again was a superb villain in Sling Blade but underused in an unnecessary role to show his potential as an actor. Chalk that up to Billy Bob Thornton for writing a better role for him and directing him in the aforementioned film.
I know this wants to be a Tender Mercies and Crazy Heart meets a typical southern dysfunctional family drama but unfortunately the other two films had enough compelling moments and characters we cared about that they worked.
There's not really anyone to root for here. While Kilmer and Duff shine as actors their characters are certainly not ones we identify easily with and therefore their characters are hard to invest in or care about although they do bring some charisma to both of them and are thus mildly engaging actors.
Kristofferson is a fine singer on songwriter but he doesn't sing anything here that sticks out like Robert Duvall did in Tender Mercies or Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart. He does have a pleasing voice though and it's nice to listen to him sing if nothing else.
The movie moves slower than a snail which in addition to wasting most of its actors, is mostly boring and forgettable.
I liked a couple performances but it's not enough for me to recommend at all and it's easy to see why this went largely unnoticed upon release. The cast certainly deserved a better screenplay than what they got.
Watch Tender Mercies and Crazy Heart and give this one a pass. It's also very expensive to stream. I ended up renting a free DVD at my local library, but even if you can see it for cheaper it's still not worth the effort.
I appreciate the ambition of the actors to be sure and while they try their best they are better then the written material that transferred from page to screen.
I wouldn't even put this on the same level of a bottom of the barrel streaming movie or a Hallmark movie. Even those tend to be more entertaining.
