Montana Story

If you are looking for a summer blockbuster this is not the movie for you (but you should know this from the tiniest bit of research). If you are looking for an incredibly well acted, incredibly well written, and incredibly well filmed in amazing locations movie that deals with real life this is the movie for you. Every actor and actress is superb. The writing is real and simultaneously sympathetic to characters at many different phases and positions in life. The cinematography is beautiful and appropriate for the themes of the show. It could be called depressing, but I would call it humanist and ultimately uplifting. A fanatic might argue with some of the implied past of the father and how it is presented, but as the movie takes time to point out this isn't really his story. Certainly not a story of any political decisions he made - that is window dressing for an amazingly well told about real families with real issues and how they deal with them.

Great premise and wonderfully shot. The acting, however, I found stilted and wooden. I fully expected to ugly-cry throughout this story but I was unable to connect with the primary characters.

The supporting cast was strong and, again, the cinematography was fantastic. The script could have done with far less exposition and the primary backstory would have been better delivered through a series of flashbacks.

In other words, please don't tell me what happened unless the way you are going to tell me is better than the way you could show me. In this case Owen Teague's delivery fell quite flat.

Beautiful shots of big sky country and Asivak Koostachin was absolutely stellar.

If you can look past the glacial pacing and really see what's being presented on the screen, Montana Story is a thoroughly rewarding film.

The family drama is delivered in such a restrained, satisfying way. Exposition and backstory is gradually hinted at until these fully realised characters finally reach their traumatic breaking point and the emotional payoff finally comes spilling out.

The achievement of acting in this film cannot be overstated. Haley Lu Richardson, especially, delivers her lines with such tact and in a way that makes her character a living, breathing person.

Some very intriguing themes are explored through parallel presentation that provoke thought as to what gives a life inherent meaning or value. I'll be thinking about it for a while.

All this praise being said, the pacing really is an issue. Many, many scenes could have been trimmed down or presented a bit differently to give the film a sense of progression that is rarely present. I'd say about 20 minutes could have been cut and all that would have been lost are some repetitive vistas and redundant mundane actions.

Still, when this film is at its high points, it REALLY shines, and I would highly recommend it to those who enjoy a slow-burn western.

Acting is ok but the story is not that new. In fact the story could be worse. But this low budget film is watchable and has it's good points (even though some dimwit did leave out plucking the chicken). Moving on... the characters are believable and and the inclusion of Native Americans is refreshing.

Between its sweeping wide shots of the landscape and its intimate look into family relationships riddled with trauma, "Montana Story" is a force to be reckoned with. A love story to Montana, a love story to family and all its complications - do yourself a favor and check it out!