source: Small Town Saturday Night

Grows on you, really fine piece of movie-making. Watch it a few times over the years, and you'll see what I mean. This is NOT a toss off film, it warrants a far higher rating than what I'm seeing so far on IMDb. Great mixture of real life drama, comedy, making tough decisions that every moviegoer can relate to. Love the performances of all the key players, especially Chris Pine and Bre Blair... and the ones playing the 'major eff ups' do an extremely fine job, too. That's how people like that truly ARE. Music is well integrated and appealing. Ryan Craig is a first rate writer and director, not just a good one. He has a fine touch for the human in us, while finding a sterling silver lining in the cloud.

Rhett Ryan (Chris Pine) is a car mechanic with Nashville dreams. He is about to move there with his girlfriend (Bre Blair). Only she has second thoughts. She is still tie to police officer Carson (Shawn Christian), the father to her daughter. Meanwhile there are all kinds of characters in this small town of Prospect. This is a slow moving indie for the first half. There are a few too many characters in their mundane lives. It's a boring slog through a lot of nothing scenes. The direction isn't the most exciting. It does improve with the bank robbery. Director/writer Ryan Craig needs to move the plot along quicker. And for a movie about a country singing mechanic, he waited until the end to let Chris Pine sing. He's actually not that bad (unless he was dubbed). I don't understand why he doesn't sing early in the movie. Anything would improve the first half.

This film tells the story of the residents in a small town, and what they are up to on a certain Saturday afternoon. The day is eventful, and people are all geared up for a big Saturday night. The story revolves mainly about the sheriff, a criminal, an insecure young man and a aspiring country singer. Their life story is told engagingly, and I feel very much for the poor young man who has an overbearing mother. I applaud his courage to do what he does at the end of the film. It is quite surprising to me that a small independent film can have both Chris Pine and Octavia Spencer in it, I don't quite know how the producers get such great talent to star in an independent film like this. Overall, the film is a little plain to me, but I say plain not in a bad way, as the film seems a reasonable portrayal about life in a sleepy small town.

Very enjoyable film. The self-sense of foregone conclusion as to how the character's lives will unfold hangs on them like the sweaty body odor you can almost smell. These people are trapped in their littleness and can't seem to find their way out. They cling to each other like shipwreck victims clawing each other to stay afloat. ON THE OTHER HAND, the sense of community, forgiveness and acceptance of each other warms my heart living as I do in plastic image land, aka, southern California. The movie is not a downer and has a lot of upbeats, even a laugh or two. All the acting was well done; the characters all had balance, which is probably also a solid credit to the directing and editing. You won't say "wow" but you will say "that was time well spent" after watching it OR at least say "my life sucks way less than theirs".

From reading the reviews, I was expecting the standard, formulaic aspiring singer/songwriter story, loaded with mediocre songs and bad acting. As it turned out, there weren't any songs at all... well, not until the final scene. The acting was very good, IMO, and I especially liked John Hawkes (Donnie) portraying the good ol boy, ex-con troublemaker who really only wants to spend some quality time with his young child, now in the care of his ex and her lover. It took me a while to figure out what was going on, how the characters were related to one another, and their intertwined struggles for existence. No one has it easy in this small town. The mood is rather depressing and melancholy, which for me, is realistic and refreshing. It's a slice of life... nothing over the top or melodramatic. Simple people living routine and somewhat hopeless lives. There are several other story lines apart from Rhett's dilemma about moving to Nashville, and for me, this is what made this movie enjoyable. The signs inside the gas station/repair shop added a nice, down-home feel, as did the down-on-her-luck bar lady willing to turn a trick for 20 bucks.

Is everybody too busy watching blockbusters to see this nice example of Indie film-making? It would be a pity, because they'd be missing a well-crafted cinematic narrative covering twenty-four hours in the small mountain town of Prospect. The film begins at dawn as a promising young country musician prepares for one last gig at the town bar, before heading off to see if he can make it in Nashville. As the day unfolds other citizens make their appearances - a regretful sheriff, his estranged wife, an alcoholic father, an overweight brother, a troubled ex-con and an overbearing mother. Their stories mingle in an varied mix of compact narratives, most of which are concerned with the relationships of parents and their children - some of them sentimental in tone, and others which display cold cruelty and pain. A fine cast portrays this collection of characters realistically, while cinematographer Matt Kovalakides captures their high-country summer world so intensely that one can almost smell the pine resin. Everything speaks of a well-balanced team effort, and the characters and their stories are worth the dedication. By the time night falls over Prospect, a discerning audience might well feel they got more bang for their buck than if they'd seen a dozen self-important, hundred-million-dollar vanity projects.

'SMALL TOWN Saturday NIGHT': Three Stars (Out of Five) Chris Pine (of 'STAR TREK' and 'UNSTOPPABLE' fame) headlines this ensemble piece indie character drama. The film also features performances by Shawn Christian, John Hawkes (who also turned in an impressive performance in this year's 'WINTER'S BONE'), and Bre Blair. It's written and directed by TV director Ryan Craig, who also plays a part in the film. Pine not only acts in the film but also wrote the song 'Someday Came Today' for the movie (and sings). Pine plays Rhett Ryan, a small time country singer / songwriter with dreams of making it in Nashville. Just days before he's supposed to leave the small town of Prospect to follow his dreams his girlfriend (Blair) tells him she's not going with him and has decided that what's best for her daughter might be to stay with her father, Tommy Carson (Christian), the town sheriff. Tommy's brother Donnie (Hawkes) just got out of prison and has came back into town getting himself in more trouble again. The film is well made and the characters are all pretty believable and their drama realistic. The acting is all impressive, especially Pine and Hawkes, and the directing is adequate. The film isn't extremely entertaining or memorable and although the characters are believable it's not especially emotionally involving either but it's not a bad way to pass the time in my opinion. There's definitely nothing in it to really complain about. It's a nice little movie. Watch our review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CN5KZOE7p28

Let me say up front that I think it's incredibly difficult and rare for a first time film director to have the discipline to effectively direct his own script. Granted Ryan Craig's written and directed a couple of TV movies, but things change a lot when you're doing a real grownup film. The chance to see your every word and decision on the big screen makes it agonizing to cut a single scene... hey! You wrote that! That said, there are some excellent performances from a cast loaded with accomplished actors, not least Shawn Christian who's best known for his soap opera career and Chris Pine who gets to indulge his hunky looks while playing some seriously downer scenes. I don't think John Hawke (Winter's Bone and The Sessions) is capable of a bad performance and this one gives him plenty of room. I gave it a 5 because of the writer-director's failure to make the fullest use of this wealth of talent, but since the film is playing on HBO and it's not a halfbad way to spend an evening.

Trailer—Small Town Saturday Night