FREDONIA – “Get Low,” the quirky new comedy starring Robert Duvall, Bill Murray and Sissy Spacek, is the next featured film in the Cinema Series at the 1891 Fredonia Opera House. It will be screened on Sat., Sept. 25, at 8 p.m. and Tues., Sept. 28, at 7:30 p.m.
“Get Low” is inspired by the true story of Felix “Bush” Breazeale, who attracted national attention and the largest crowd to assemble up to that date when he threw himself a living funeral party in 1938 in Roane County, Tennessee.
For years, townsfolk have been terrified of the backwoods recluse known as Felix Bush (Duvall). People say he’s done all manner of unspeakable things – that he’s killed in cold blood; that he’s in league with the Devil; that he has strange powers – and they avoid him like the plague. Then, one day, Felix rides to town with a shotgun and a wad of cash, saying he wants to buy a funeral. It’s not your usual funeral for the dead that Felix wants. On the contrary, he wants a living funeral in which anyone who ever heard a story about him will come to tell it, while he takes it all in.
Seeing a big payday in the offing, fast-talking funeral home owner Frank Quinn (Murray) enlists his gentlemanly young apprentice, Buddy Robinson (Lucas Black) to win over Felix’s business. Buddy is no stranger to Felix’s dark reputation; but what he discovers is that behind Felix’s surreal plan lies a very real and long-held secret. As the funeral approaches, the mystery, which involves the widow Mattie Darrow (Spacek), the only person in town who ever got close to Felix, and the Illinois preacher Charlie Jackson, who refuses to speak at his former friend’s funeral, only deepens. But on the big day, Felix is in no mood to listen to other people spinning made-up anecdotes about him. This time, he’s the one who is going to do the talking about why he has been hiding out in the woods.
Joe Neumaier, of the New York Daily News, gives the film “five stars … movies as great as ‘Get Low’ are as hard to find as a hermit in the woods!” Peter Travers, of Rolling Stone, calls it “funny and touching. Watching Murray spar with Duvall is pure pleasure. Only a fool would want to miss that.” Ann Hornaday of USA Today calls the film “a shot of simple joy during cinema’s most torrid season. It’s as soothing and pure as the sweetest water from the deepest well.” Bill Goodykoontz, of the Arizona Republic, calls it “a great piece of work and Duvall’s best performance in ages!” Rated PG-13 for some thematic material and brief violent content, “Get Low” runs 103 minutes.
The Opera House Cinema Series is sponsored by Cliffstar Corporation. Tickets for Cinema Series movies are available at the door for $7 (adults), $6.50 (seniors & Opera House members) and $5 (students & children) the night of each showing. The series continues with “The Extra Man” on Oct. 2 & 5; and “Flipped” on Oct. 9 & 12. For more information, call the Opera House box office at 716-679-1891.
Chautauqua County’s only year-round performing arts center, the 1891 Fredonia Opera House is a member-supported not-for-profit organization located in Village Hall in downtown Fredonia. For a complete schedule of events, visit www.fredopera.org.
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fredonia, opera, screening, film, cinema, Get Low, Robert Duval, Bill Murray, Sissy Cliffstar |
