That Evening Sun [DVD] [2009] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

I was very fortunate to watch "That Evening Sun" on the big screen in Los Angeles. It's cinematography and locations are visually stunning and apropos for the story. Of course, Mr. Holbrook is magnificent and perfectly cast for the lead role.

What makes this film excellent IMHO is its modest, understated approach. Sure, it's a drama, but at no point does it get "dramatic" or overtly poignant. Rather than force feed his viewers with evocative music and gratuitous camera moves/angles, director Scott Teems trusts that viewers are able to sense emotional subtlety and subtext.

I'm excited to hear Teems' commentary and watch the special features!

THAT EVENING SUN is one of those marvelous "little" pictures that usually gets lost in the shuffle because it's too little. On the other hand, if one is lucky enough to catch it, the film stays with them forever.

Hal Holbrook, in what is perhaps the finest performance of his stellar career, plays Abner Meecham, a crusty old coot who escapes from his retirement home and returns to his farm, only to discover that his adult son (Walton Goggins) has "sold" it to a family that the octogenarian considers to be `white trash".

Meecham, however, is a proud, stubborn man, so he moves into the sharecropper's cabin across from the main house, buys a barking dog for company and lays "siege" to the intruders. It is just a matter of time before events turn very ugly.

Adapted to the screen by director Scott Teems from a short story by William Gay, THAT EVENING SUN is filled with well-defined characters of varying shades of gray. Meecham may, indeed, be the hero of the piece, but he is definitely a flawed hero, just as his antagonist (Ray McKinnon), for very brief moments, can evoke our sympathy.

The ending to the story is now what one would expect.

Mia Wasikowska, Carrie Preston, Barry Corbin and Holbrook's late wife, Dixie Carter, are effective in their various roles.

© Michael B. Druxman

We've always respected Harold Rowe Holbrook as an actor---witness Hal's 10 Emmy wins and one Oscar nod---but if there was ever even the teeniest quibble about just how good he is, we have three words: That Evening Sun. And please don't confuse this Imagine Entertainment release with Evening Shade, the TV '90s seires in which Hal co-starred with Burt Reynolds and Marilu Henner.
The film, just out on DVD and Blu-ray, tells a simple and strong story.
A man-strong, resolute-will not let his life disappear into the twilight. He will not let it vanish over the horizon. Instead, he will fight . . .to keep the things he loves, to confront the petty emotional robberies inflicted on the elderly. That Evening Sun is a tale of determination and hope played against the humid background of Southern gothic emotions. It got rave reviews---Variety hailed Hal's performance as a "career-highlight star turn as an irascible octogenarian farmer who will not go gentle into that good night."
And on a touching, bittersweet postscript, the film marks the last screen appearance of Dixie Carter, Holbrook's real life wife, who died shortly after the film was made . . . and to whom the film is dedicated.
Holbrook plays Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer living in a nursing facility where he has been placed by his son, Paul, who has no sympathy for a father's pride. But Abner has other ideas . . . and escapes to fulfill his dream of returning to his cherished farm and living out his final days in peace.
But when he arrives, he finds that his son has betrayed him a second time.
Paul has sold the lease of the farm to Abner's old adversary, Lonzo Choat. With the battle lines drawn, neither man is willing to give way. Threats are made, events spiral out of control and a startling climax is inevitable.
Based on I Hate To See That Evening Sun Go Down, a celebrated anthology of short stories from William Gay, and fraught with passion and courage played out against life's departing light, That Evening Sun is a portrait of a man who is not only intent on reclaiming his land, but his own life as well.
Get out the tissues.