Small Town Murder Songs

I have always admired Peter Stormare's acting but I am unable to recall him in a leading role - until now. He provides a strong performance as a religious police officer with violent and painful past, and there are very few scenes without his presence. As for the rest, I cannot find more outstanding features: the plot is slow and dull (the killer can be figured out early), religious soundtrack and church links are annoying, other actors/characters are not catchy. Even in terms of pondering and profundity, there are far more interesting and versatile movies, even from Canada. Luckily, its duration is 1 hour and 10 minutes only.

Thus, a film for art's sake, but not interesting to follow. It could just have been a psychological film without any crime at all. By the way, I like the Coens a lot and have seen all of their films. Small Town Murder Songs does not measure up to them.

I'm not sure I can grasp how anyone could possibly rate this movie as low as 1 or 2 stars. I saw the angry reviews and thought I'd give this movie a chance since the trailer interested me. This movie has solid acting throughout, and exceptional acting from Stormare, who most of the movie is focused around. There have been complaints about the music, and I'll admit that the music did seem out of place at times. Since the music was to my taste and very soulful, I can give that a pass, but if you don't like glorious musical creations, it could get annoying to some. Although some elements of the story -- especially towards the end -- were left a bit too open for me, the beautiful cinematography, cast, and solid acting make it well worth a viewing.

To be fair, the director set himself up with a task that was going to undermine him. This is the story of a severely bottled-up individual who has a history of rage and violence, who has separated himself from larger society both because he can't trust himself and they know they can't trust him either. But to play such a character means going inward so much that it doesn't give the viewer a whole lot to look at. There are long stretches of this short movie where we see the protagonist simply frozen with his own torment.

The standout performance here is by Jill Hennessey, who conveys such resentment and antipathy toward the protagonist that it practically jumps off the screen. Every frame she's in the movie becomes compelling. If there had been more done with the back story between these two it might have made for a more interesting story.

Regarding the music - this kind of new-gospel is not to my taste, but even if it were, the fact that it's amped-up so loud compared to the rest of the film, where the characters barely speak above a whisper, is completely off-putting. What is supposed to add emotional and spiritual impact ends up just sounding bombastic. I felt aurally mugged.

I read the review posted that bashes this movie that review could not be more wrong. I just watched this movie and could not be more impressed.

This movie is very different from standard police fare, it is concerned with the characters in the story not just the crime drama.

If you hate what Michael Bay (Transformers director) movies, this is the movie for you. Characters should matter in a movie not special effects.

Canada, you should be very proud of this movie.

Hollywood take note. Your movies may make more money but they're not better.

The movie itself is a haunting, powerful experience, much like the excellent Gothic thriller "Septien" and the short film "The Abattoir". These films are set in provincial towns, seemingly cut off from the world, and that adds to the suspense and mystery.

But check the discussion boards, I'm not the only one who thought the overbearing music killed the mood. The music itself was appropriate (jarring religious hymns), but they were just so loud and harsh that they distracted from the poetry of what was on screen. My advice to you would be to turn the volume down as much as possible while still being able to understand the dialogue. If you have it up too loud, I guarantee your neighbors will start pounding on the floor thinking you're starting a weird psycho cult and sacrificing first born children or something twisted like that.

Back to the movie, like I said above, it's suspenseful and mysterious. There's not a lot of action. In fact, basically there's no action at all. Instead you get a thick disturbing atmosphere, occasional dramatic flashbacks and unyielding tension building up. Very effective.

The DVD cover compares it to the Coen Brothers. I can definitely see some similarities with their serious side ("A Serious Man", "The Man Who Wasn't There"). It also reminded me of the 2005 film "Capote". If you like slow, heavy thrillers with interesting characters but not much action, give it a shot. Just beware of the loud soundtrack.