Sweet Virginia *** ½ / *****
Directed by: Jamie M. Dagg
Written by: Benjamin China & Paul China.
Starring: Jon Bernthal (Sam), Christopher Abbott (Elwood), Imogen Poots (Lila), Rosemarie DeWitt (Bernadette), Jared Abrahamson (Paul Anderson), Odessa Young (Maggie), Darcy Laurie (Marty Petrowne), Joseph Lyle Taylor (Tom Barrett).
Jon Bernthal has one of the most relaxed screen presence I can recall – making him perfect for a movie like Sweet Virginia, a combination of noir and western, set in contemporary Alaska. Bernthal plays Sam – a former rodeo star, who now owns and operates a local motel – and it’s to his credit, that I can easily imagine Bernthal being any of those things. In fact, in almost every role I see Bernthal play, I can often imagine him doing, quiet, normal guy labor – it’s one of his charms. The same is kind of true for Rosemarie DeWitt - who here plays Bernadette, who is having an affair with Sam behind her husband’s back. The two have an easy chemistry together, and share one of the most natural sex scenes I can recall. They are perfectly suited for each other – and this movie. Because this is a noir though, we know things are going to be happy – in fact, we know that before we meet either Sam or Bernadette. The film opens in a bar, where a stranger – Elwood (Christopher Abbott) shows up, and continually tries to order the breakfast special, despite being told by the three men in the bar that they are closed. He leaves, but comes back quickly – shooting, and killing all three men. It turns out that Elwood is a killer for hire, hired by Lila (Imogen Poots), the wife of one of the men killed – because she wants his money. She’s horrified that Elwood killed two other men – including her friend’s husband (her friend being Bernadette). Lila needs her husband’s money (which turns out to be non-existent) in order to pay for his murder – so as she tries to stall Elwood, he stays at the motel owned by Sam – and the two kind of bond – although that’s mainly because Elwood won’t leave Sam alone, and Sam is too nice to complain.
Abbott has become an interesting actor in the last few years – but admittedly, sometimes he needs to calm down a little bit. Here, he plays a bundle of nervous energy – and ratchets the intensity of his performance up a little too much. He would likely be the prime suspect in the murders just for being weird, let alone the fact that he seems to be the only person around not everyone knows (it is a small town, of course) – but no one seems to notice him (to be fair, I don’t think the police factor in the movie at all – so they clearly don’t notice anything). Abbott here is clearly trying to contrast himself to Bernthal and his relaxed performance. He could have relaxed just a little bit though – and delivered an even better performance.
The film was directed by Jamie M. Dagg, who prefers his movies dark – literally – as most of the film takes place at night, much of the time in rooms where no one has though to turn on a light. It works for this type of story, and really does help to build the atmosphere. We know from the opening scenes where the film is going to end up – this is very much a classic noir setup, and has a classic noir payoff as well. It doesn’t really do anything new in that regard. But it does everything so well, that you don’t really care. And when the film focuses on Bernthal a DeWitt together, it actually builds one of the most quietly believable relationships I’ve seen in a movie this year.
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