The Montana Story is a character-driven film that is refreshing and unique in the way that directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel deal with the emotional difficulties of material things. Strengthened by talented actors, Montana Story allows the drama and its characters to live in a quiet place of their emotions and tension, exploring complex family dynamics and gaining closure.
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Montana Story: Movie Review
Cal (Owen Teague) has returned to his family farm in Montana to care for his ailing father, now unconscious after a stroke, and his time on Earth is running out. If you look at the way Cal could communicate with him, however, it is easy to see that they had a bad relationship. Cal is surprised but happy when older sister Erin (Haley Lu Richardson) returns home.
She hated their father for the reasons that were later revealed, but she wanted to see him one last time before he died. Erin can’t stand being in the same room with her father and has never spoken to Cal years ago after leaving the farm at the age of 18. Their differences are obvious, but there are moments of compassion between them that remember how close they must be. pre-existing. Eventually, they reunite, and Cal intends to repair their relationship.
Not everything happens in Montana Story, but that is not enough reason for the audience not to see it. The film takes its time to reveal its central story, the strained relationship between its characters. While some may be offset by their slow pace, they seem complete, giving the story time to happen, setting the character’s history and the journey ahead.
It is a simple story, but it is followed by deep feelings at its core, painful and longing, painful and loving. The flexible brothers who give Montana Story its beating heart are lovely, purposeful, and sophisticated. In the first part of the film, it is hard to imagine how Erin and Cal became separated from each other, even though their abusive father apparently played a key role in shaping the relationship between the two extremes.
The test of their relationship – their ups and downs – is powerful, coupled with a great deal of grief and longing for the return of the way things used to be between them. The film is not so quick to describe the nature of its horizontal dynamics that it allows their interactions to play live before releasing the source of the conflict. To achieve that, every conversation is important, it paints a picture of what is happening while allowing the characters to effectively convey the deep feelings that their characters are experiencing. The Montana Story is heartwarming in that way, taking its time to unravel everything that exists between Cal and Erin without feeling hidden.
The center of the film is aided by beautiful pictures of the state of Montana, thanks to cinematographer Giles Nuttgens. The size of the rolling hills and the barren landscape makes the characters seem insignificant in comparison, but it also sets them apart from their misery and pain, deepening their relationship with all their problems.
The Montana Story is really deep and enhanced with Richardson and Teague’s outstanding performances, the way they talk, the delivery, and the body gestures that express grief, the unending wounds, and the basic love that their characters have for each other very well. Watching them is fascinating. All in all, McGehee and Siegel have made an inspiring, beautiful story in a tragic way driven by their characters and will never be missed.
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