Direction: Scott McGehee, David Siegel
Country: USA
The pair of writers/directors Scott McGehee and David Siegel has not been consistent in their filmography. What Maisie Knew (2012) and The Deep End (2001) remain their best efforts to date, but they stumble again with Montana Story, an inaptly executed and lazily paced indie drama whose fair story deserved a bit more grittiness.
As disclosures of their past mount, estranged siblings Cal (Owen Teague) and Erin (Haley Lu Richardson) act uncomfortably after reuniting in the old ranch of their terminally ill father. They spent seven years apart, without talking to each other. Their gradual disclosures send us back, and we have our own perception of the family and its relationships. However, one experiences more apathy than empathy along the way, in a family settle of past traumatic experiences that rounds off the angles a little too much to go straight to the heart.
The remaining characters are underdeveloped - including the Kenyan private nurse Ace (Gilbert Owuor) and the longstanding housekeeper Valentina (Kimberly Guerrero) - and they only seem to be there to add a few more unnecessary minutes to the film. I also identified a bunch of redundant shots. Like, who needs to see Erin killing a chicken with her bare hands to believe she was a cook in New York? This is a fallacious attempt to create something deep.
If the conventional plot is not particularly memorable, then the gorgeous cinematography that sharpens the scenic countryside of Montana becomes the real attraction of the film.
