“Get Down to Business”

GET LOW is a wonderful little film starring Robert Duvall, Sissy Spacek, and Bill Murray that will have you chuckling throughout and wiping away a tear at the end.

It takes place in the 1930s and is based on a true event in which a local recluse wanted to throw a funeral party for himself while he was still alive so he could hear what people had to say about him.

Duvall plays Felix Bush in an outstanding performance that could easily win him an Academy Award nomination in 2011 for Best Actor.

Bush is a local legend who has lived alone in his house out in the woods for 40 years, which causes the kids in town to gather up their courage and go out to throw rocks through a window.

Whenever Bush harnesses his mule to his wagon and goes into town, it causes a sensation, one that doesn’t always end well.

Get Low MovieOne day Bush goes into town to see the local preacher in his church; he pulls out a wad of money and says to the preacher, “About time for me to get low.”

When the preacher asks what he means by “get low,” Bush explains, “Down to business.”

However, when Bush tells the preacher what he wants, the preacher turns him down.

On the other hand, business has been bad at the funeral home, and when the funeral director, Frank Quinn, played by Murray, hears about Bush’s desire and especially about his wad of money, Quinn is eager to do business with the recluse.

However, Bush has more in mind than just a funeral party and hearing what everyone has to say about him. Bush has a secret that he wants to reveal, and he also wants to sell $5 tickets for a raffle, the winner to get Bush’s house on 300 acres of uncut timber when he does die.

Well, money makes people do funny things, and everything doesn’t go as planned, to say the least.

Spacek plays Mattie, a widow, and as Bush puts it, he once “had a go” with Mattie, but she also figures prominently in Bush’s secret and why he has been a recluse for 40 years.

GET LOW gets down to business as an excellent film that I admired for its story, the acting, and its rewarding conclusion.

I’m Dan Culberson and this is “Hotshots.”