20140114: Drama Review--As I Lay Dying

As I Lay Dying

1. Fundamentals, reception.
1. American live action feature length film, 2013, rated R, 119 minutes, drama, indie.
2. IMDB: 5.7/10.0 from 996 audience ratings.  Spoken word is in English; aspect 2.35
3. Rotten Tomatoes: 41% on the meter, but 'no consensus yet'; 44% liked it from 2,674 audience ratings.
4. Netflix: 2.8/5.0 from 9,798 audience ratings.
5. Written and directed by: James Franco.
6. Starring: James Franco as Darl Bundren, Beth Grant as Addie Bundren, Logan Marshall-Green as Jewell, James Parrack as Cash Bundren, Tim Blake Nelson as Anse, Brady Permenter as Vardaman Bundren, Ahna O'Reilly as Dewey Dell.


2. Setup and Plot
1. Addie Bundren lay dying in rural Mississippi circa 1930.  Darl and Jewel go on an errand, and promise to be back before sundown.  Their cart gets stuck in a rut in the pouring rain, and they do not keep that promise.  Cash keeps working on Addie's coffin within sight of Addie's sick bed.  Cash continues to work on it after she is gone, in the rain, no less.


2. Cash finishes the coffin,  Darl and Jewel get the cart unstuck. Addie has made Anse promise that she will be buried in the town of Jefferson.  This proves to be more than a bit complicated.


3. There is a lot of talking and angst and back-biting as Darl, Jewel, Cash, Dewey Dell, Vardaman and Anse head to Jefferson to fulfill the promise.  They encounter a number of challenges, such as weakened bridges across streams, dodgy fords, broken carts, lost animals, lost tools, lost coffin.  Aside from that, Cash gets a compound fracture, which the local vet sets.  To get a new team, Anse trades away just about everything the family had, including Jewel's beloved horse.


4. The corpse continues to rot, and the smell increases.  Whenever they are near or in a town, they are not welcome.  Cash's leg does not get better, and they set it with cement.  Jewel gives up his horse.


5. The journey does not get any easier.   Will the family accomplish its mission?


3. Conclusions
1. Adapted from William Faulkner's novel of the same name published in 1930.
2. One line summary: Poor Mississippi family takes matriarch's body home for burial.
3. Four stars of five


4. Scores
1. Cinematography: 9/10 Mostly excellent, but has a bit of camera shake to it.


2. Sound: 9/10 Again, mostly excellent.  However, I would have been lost without the subtitles on Netflix.  The century-old Southern accents were thick to say the least.


3. Acting: 8/10 Fine, by and large.


4. Screenplay: 8/10 Difficult story, well told.