White Lightnin'

There is no better summary line than the quote I used from the Guardian! The quote is on the poster of the movie too, along with "rollicking terrifying trip" and "white-trash psychobilly nightmare" both by Vanity Fair, and they fit perfectly. This movie is definitely a trip.

A trip that's worth taking. A movie that you might think is more violent than it actually is. On screen violence is pretty rare, or better put not explicitly. Apart from that, the story of a man (white-trash) is almost linear, but nevertheless confusing and appalling at once.

Bottom line: You'll either love this movie (because it's not only out there, but beyond) or you will hate it, because of it's craziness! I'm not going into story details, just be warned that this isn't for the faint hearted or overly religious. You could say it offends almost everyone it can!

Absolutely amazing film making and a great first effort from both the director and writers! I was sucked into this film from the get go and from its somewhat light hearted, troubling start it takes you on a wild ride of torment and madness. This is not a biopic, rather loosely based on the life of Jesco White (the "Dancing Outlaw", see documentaries) and combines some aspects of his life with a murder/revenge story. Pretty awesome and fitting soundtrack too. The music combined with the style of editing and overall theme gives this film that pop-culture, coolness type of feel, despite its sometimes graphic violence. See Hollywood, there is still plenty of good ideas out there, stop making all the crappy remakes and take some chances and Really worth checking this movie out, go do it now!

I was very surprised by this film's quality. The directing was very well done. The aesthetic reminded me of a 90's music video, maybe Nirvana.

The edit was expertly put together. There was never a dull moment in this film. The music was layered in nicely and heightened the tension in a good way.

The acting from Edward Hogg left a lot to be desired in my opinion. It's not that he performed badly, it was a good performance of some character, but that character wasn't the embodiment of Jesco White. A Brit shouldn't have been selected for this role. They don't get the inherent hopeful humor even the darkest of us in the USA have. Brits are typically too cynical.

Jesco was way too serious in this film, even as a child. A big part of what makes Jesco cool is his nonchalant attitude. Sure, I think there is part of him that was like Hogg's rendition. I just think the character that Hogg portrayed was two dimensional. There was probably something within him that was frightened by Jesco White to fully embrace his character. In that fear he acted out what scared him of Jesco. His violence, his intensity...but where was his humor? Where was his softer side? Even when he's talking about Cilla he seems more like Charlie Manson than Jesco.

I thought Carrie Fisher did a great job as Cilla. The rest of the cast was excellent too. Even Hogg brought something meaningful to life, but there's a difference between meaning and truth. Meaning is the treatment of a symptom, truth is when many meanings come together leading to pure health.

This film felt at the same time genius, but at the same like a piece of crap. I think the acting and the mood in the film was one of the best since I've seen after Malick, Kubrick or Tarkovsky, but at the same time it just felt like a irritating overdose of film-cocaine.

It's always difficult to watch stupid people do stupid things in film. So was the case with this films main character.

I understand that the background with the father is somehow supposed to justify it all, but it was still hard for me.

We can see that the director is strong visually and a guy we will here from, but the script could have had a few more looks and a comment round from someone before they started shooting it.

This is my 2009. favorite without any reconsideration. Dominic Murphy's debut is extremely powerful and complex work of Art. I got lucky to see it twice, at Berlinale and European Film Festival Palic, and both times i needed an hour to get sober after watching it. Storyline leads you trough the life of Jesco White, Appalachian step dancer, from the early childhood till the "imaginary" ritual death. Brilliant music and breathtaking performance of young Eduard Hogg makes this film unique experience. Usually i don't like watching violence on film and if someone tells you this is a slasher movie don't take him seriously. This is a story of Sins and Redemption. Evil and Divinity. Watch it!