That Evening Sun (2009)

Director:

Scott Teems

Writers:

Scott Teems (screenplay)
William Gay (short story "I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down")

Release Date:

November 2009 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

I worked too hard. And too long. I aint goin down without a fight.

Plot:

An aging Tennessee farmer returns to his homestead and must confront a family betrayal, the reappearance of an old enemy, and the loss of his farm. |

Plot Keywords:

Literature | Southern

Awards:

9 wins

Cast

Hal Holbrook	...	Abner Meecham
Ray McKinnon	...	Lonzo Choat
Walton Goggins	...	Paul Meecham
Mia Wasikowska	...	Pamela Choat
Carrie Preston	...	Ludie Choat
Barry Corbin	...	Thurl Chessor
Dixie Carter	...	Ellen Meecham
Barlow Jacobs	...	J.D. the Cabbie
Anthony Reynolds	...	Hollis the Phone Worker
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Brian Keith	...	Deputy Keith
Bruce McKinnon	...	Sheriff Roller
William J. Mode	...	Deputy Davies
Jacob Parkhurst	...	Steve Goodwin Jr.

Also Known As:

I Hate to See That Evening Sun Go Down (USA) (working title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for brief strong language, some violence, sexual content and thematic elements.

Runtime:

USA:110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #45107)

Filming Locations:

Knoxville, Tennessee, USA

Company:

Dogwood Entertainment

Trivia:

Scott Teems' screenplay for the film won the Emerging Narrative Screenplay Award at the 2006 IFP Market in New York.

Soundtrack:

Blue Yodel #3

An Instant Southern Classic

I had the privilege of seeing That Evening Sun last night at the Atlanta Film Festival. Scott Teems, Terrence Berry, Laura Smith, Ray McKinnon, Walton Goggins, and Larsen Jay were all in attendance and conducted an excellent Q&A afterwords.

There's so much to this film, so I'll start with the acting and go from there. The movie was so perfectly cast, from Hal Holbrook to Ray McKinnon all the way down to Barlow Jacobs the cab driver - they all were so authentic and believable. There was a lot of very good dialog, but I felt in the moments of quiet grief, contemplation, and observation there was so much more said about the characters.

The story itself was very simple - it had no effect on the world outside of the few characters involved - but again it made the whole situation believable and really struck home with a lot of audience members. The movie is very smart - it doesn't hit you over the head with actors stating "I feel remorse, I feel sad, I feel angry." You get to watch their actions in the present reveal their character and past.

Location was perfectly southern, shot just outside of Knoxville on an old farm, complete with the tenant house seen (although the Q&A explained the actual tenant house was disassembled and rebuilt closer to the main house). There is something about truly southern movies that have a feel like no other with a landscape and sound you can't find in Canada, New Zealand, or LA.

The music, done by Michael Penn and the Drive-By Truckers, completed the whole picture with a quiet southern flavor. Scott Teems explained in the Q&A that he wanted a lot of quiet time for the audience to absorb the story and the location. The music was present, but didn't drive scenes.

All in all, this is one of the best independent films I've seen in recent years, and is instantly one of my favorite films of all time. Please go see this film, you will not regret the time spent!