So This Is What the Songs Are All About

source: So This Is What the Songs Are All About

I understand why this film may have limited appeal. It's slow and not a whole lot actually happens. Many people felt the same way about Banshees of Inisherin, another film I loved. And that's a shame because A Love Song tells a poignant story that sticks with one and features a brilliant performance by Dale Dickey, a prolific character actress starring in her first leading role, a role she inhabits without ego and, apparently, makeup. We meet Faye outside her trailer at a desolate and barren campground somewhere out west. The first shot of her is a closeup of her face and we see she's as weathered as her old trailer and surroundings. I couldn't help but think of the opening lyrics from Brandi Carlile's The Story, "All of these lines across my face ...". Faye's daily routine consists largely of trapping crawdads in the nearby river and eating them for dinner (and maybe lunch and breakfast) and waiting for the daily visit by the rural mail carrier and his mail laden mule. We later learn she is waiting for a letter from an expected visitor and the mail carrier seems as invested in her hopes as she is. Her routine is broken by a bizarre but satisfying visit from a group of cowboys and their wise-beyond-her-years young spokesgirl. We never really learn why the cowboys are mostly mute. They've come to dig up the body of their "pop pops" because his view has been ruined by a nearby oil derrick since erected. Problem is he is buried under Faye's camper and she explains her anticipated visitor has been told to find her at that site and she dare not move. No worries, the girl explains, they'll come back. That's a scene that would be more at home in a Coen Brothers or Wes Anderson movie but, for reasons I can't fully understand, it seems perfectly at ease with the rest of the film. (We also learn it's apparently quite easy to transfer an engine from one truck to another and back again with no winch and few tools.) She is invited to dinner by some fellow campers, a lesbian couple struggling with commitment issues. The scene gives us the opportunity to learn a little bit of Faye's back story. Finally her long awaited visitor arrives. We learn that Lito, well played by Wes Studi, like Faye, lost his spouse some years ago. Turns out they once had something of a relationship and this reunion seems meant to determine whether their likely final chapters in life will be spent alone or together. To say more would be a spoiler. Comparisons to Nomadland are understandable and inevitable. There are certainly similarities but this one is content to focus on Faye and her story and mostly skip the larger social commentary. As a result and contrary to what one might expect, A Love Song is the more powerful film. I wish more people would see it because it deserves a much wider audience. And, while it has been nominated for and won some more obscure awards, the Oscar's failure to recognize Dickey's performance is a real shame.

It's a 7 but it gets a bonus point for just being so damned sweet. The writing is dear. The direction tender without becoming syrupy. The acting is heartfelt perfection. Elders reunite with all the same adolescent awkwardness of their youth. Time may have weathered bodies but their hearts are fresh as spring. She says, "Come inside." So we get to go, go inside lives lived. Hearts beating. People gently reconnecting. It's playful and tender and quiet and touching and beautiful in ways I did not expect. I love a good story well-told. This is a good slice of life story told so well it captures the exquisite joy and sorrow, expectation and disappointment, truth and beauty, of life.

This was a strange movie but has great nature photography at least. The beginning has a lobster meal and fireworks at a lonely campground somewhere, nah those days are gone sorry crammed to the hilt now. The surface story is ok I guess, the idea of waiting for some old flame to show up there and whatever is supposed to come of that, usually these camper dweller nomads are way too idiosyncratic and used to their own ways to be of any use to the opposite sex though, maybe if the other had a remote farm or such it could work but since older relationships aren't so tied into family life with children and such and are more personality based the above reasons kinda preclude such, disaster waiting to happen. Another aspect is the tranzformer man we see as the main character, just does not work sorry and the cult certainly isn't hiding it in these latter days that's for sure. I was sad to see an actor who previously played in the likes of Dances With Wolves and other movies coming to this to probably pay some bills, similar to freeman, willis, de niro and others. Straight to dvd titles that are atrocious filler. Still it was a bit quirky for a background thing while doing productive things. I certainly wouldn't rent it or look for it but this showed up in the free section and gave it a shot eh.

I thought this film was well conceived, beautiful to look at, and the acting was superb. I laughed considerably at the young Cowboys that came to visit Dale Dickey's character over and over again, and Miss Dickey's face and her acting reveal great depth. She is a marvelous talent. As is Wes Studi. I could see this turned into a TV series of some type, And would definitely pay to see more of the characters. I like I liked the story, the pace and the music is terrific. Frankly my only complaint about the music is I couldn't find it on iTunes to buy the album. I would've like the ending to be a little less bitter sweet but it's helpful and I can live with that. All in all terrific.

As the clock of life ticks by, many of us begin to look back on our lives in terms of the opportunities we pursued and the regrets we hold over those we didn't. Those are the primary themes explored in writer-director Max Walker-Silverman's debut feature about a pair of childhood friends (Dale Dickey, Wes Studi) who reunite after many years apart at a remote Colorado campground. Their time together gives them a chance to reflect upon their lives, their memories and the loves they both lost. But where do they go from here now that they've reconnected? This tender, bittersweet arm's-length romance has its moments of humor, compassion and joyful reunion, as well as its elements of stilted awkwardness and protracted hesitation, reflecting the ambiguity the two principals are feeling after their long separation. It makes for some interesting dynamics set against the beautifully photographed backdrop of the Western wilderness. However, despite these strengths, the script feels a little thin with an underdeveloped narrative and back story, issues that are slightly exacerbated by the picture's slow but tolerable pacing. While it's true this offering proves that a film doesn't always need a complex, densely packed screenplay chock full of dramatic heft to be effective, it nevertheless seems that "A Love Song" could have benefitted from a little more substance. Still, this one has its merits, having deservedly earned Independent Spirit Award nominations for Dickey's lead performance and as a candidate for the competition's John Cassavettes Award. This is the kind of film that makes a good choice for a cozy weekend afternoon while curled up on the couch, and, thankfully, its economical 1:21:00 runtime is just long enough to make it enjoyable without becoming tedious - a nice little diversion without becoming tiresome.

Is it really that easy to perform engine swaps in the middle of nowhere? This film is NOT for everyone. Moviegoers expecting a neatly-outlined narrative will be bored out of their minds. The first 20 minutes alone are spent riding shotgun with the main character's lonely vigil-waiting for a rendezvous that may never even happen. Those who DO stick with 'A Love Song' will be treated to a meandering, bittersweet drama that's exceedingly human and-for lack of a better word-brutally regular. This film portrays weariness, disappointment, and navigating grief so viscerally. Misery loves company, and we end up being the company. The film subverts our expectations for a happy ending or a-ha moment of resolution in favor of something much more true to life.

Warning! There are no special effects, cartoons, or superheroes in this film. Since that represents about 70% of all currently released films in 2022, it automatically makes it more interesting than that 70%. This is a sweet film about two older adults who have not seen each other for several years. Both have had relationships that ended in the loss of their significant other. Now, several years later, they will try to reconnect in a remote desert location. An interesting idea that has a few possibilities. The film delivers what it promises; life, like a baseball game, is not over til its over (Yogi Berra).

While the cinematography showed nice views the picture was not that great. However, this film absolute blew me away; each scene was special! If you are not looking for action then please check out this film (if you are expecting action then this is not the film for you). It moves at a snails pace throughout while the set never much really changes. If you don't like camping then go watch this movie instead;)

Any bad? Most likely not suited for those folks who arent into slowburning stories, because this story really takes it's time to unfold itself and even when it unfolds nothing much happens, but that is not a bad thing at all... The good; this movie was directed, written and edited by debuting director Max Walker-Silverman and it is a promising debut, because this director knows how to evoke emotions without using dialogues. There are lots of moments of sheer silence, with only the sound of the desert wind blowing. And it soothes. And it moved me. That's quite an achievement that not many directors are ever able to manage. Chapeau! Of course this debut movie was made with a tiny financial budget and one can tell by the below average quality of the photography. But that is only a minor criticism. The old actors, whom I vaguely knew from years before, are delivering a solid performance. It's a full on actor's movie actually and for those who are into a mellow, slowburning portrait about life and love in the desert, this is not a bad choice.