This movie has what's needed to be a funny and touching movie, without veering into Hallmark card territory. Director McKaskell draws a great performance out of Carlo Fiorletta, who morphs, on screen, from a sad sack widower to a maybe-sexy single older man. Actor Tara Westwood handles the funny stuff from the start, from the humiliation of being the last to find out she's married to a closeted gay man, to realizing that, indeed, her father has needs just as much as she does.
Who would have thought? The nerve!
The cinematography must have been challenging, as shooting a road picture, realistically, always is. Yet the shots are relentlessly impressive - one lovely beach scene followed by Spanish moss followed by the quiet intensity of the boat scene near the end.
Unlike writer Mara Lesemann's first movie, Surviving Family, this movie is more focused, more tight, and so has a storyline that pulls one along. There are fewer side characters, and they serve as more clear foils to the major characters. That's really a plus - we get to know these folks well by the end of the movie. And we care about them. By the closing shot, we're really pulling for Dan to make that move.
So why a 9 and not a 10? Picky stuff, such as the love interest wearing his shirt the next morning, when the woman didn't - I've never known a guy to get up at night and pull on a t-shirt. A scene in a bar felt a little off. And still too many side characters, who seemed well- loved by the writer but could still be cut for greater intensity. But 95 plus percent of this movie was spot on, and the original music was fantastic - I would buy some of that music. The rapping night clerk? great. Phyllis Somerville plays the mechanic and we saw her in Surviving Family; here, we get a better understanding of the don't ask/don't tell mentality that lingers in the south.
Overall? Great movie. Would watch it again. If it comes near you, grab it.
