Daltry Calhoun (2005)

the audience applauded

Don't listen to the negative reviews

It's simply great fun, a winsome film and an occasionally over-the-top luxury fantasy that never flags.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

If you dig deep into this movie, you will find superb & intelligent writing, fine acting, and great music choices that fit the film to a T... such an eclectic spread of musical choices! The scene of Sophie bouncing the ball on a wall and talking to Daltry about music is pure genius. This film also sort of highlights the 'simple life' in Appalachia - where love is King, but which also tends to be somewhat dramatic on personal/family levels - a nice touch.{Johnny Knoxville} gives such a touching performance in this simple little film, which - ironically - is set in his home state of Tennessee. {Elizabeth Banks} is outstanding in her own subtle, amazingly beautiful way. She is truly a breathtaking woman. Watch the scenes of her in the bathtub talking to Daltry, and her telling June that Daltry is her daddy. You will quickly fall for her as you watch her simple yet heartfelt performance. She is a true artist in every sense of the word. {Juliette Lewis} is such a GREAT actress, and she nails this - as usual. Her trademark scene is where she meets Elizabeth Banks and sees |straight| into her soul. And just watch how she simply twirls her hair 'round her finger all the time - it is so sweet, it's mesmerizing. {Sophie Traub} as June is just soooo adorable in her nerdy, prodigal way. She is very smartly cynical, but has true love of heart. She steals every scene she's in, and her character shows hints of genius in her music genre choices/comparisons. She spanks it as the narrator of the story, leading you easily thru and investing you in the characters. While the {Doyle} character tends to be somewhat irritating, listen closely! He is actually the one who will focus you to the deep, loyal, beautiful LOVE that is the true message of Daltry Calhoun. If you can find THAT - then get ready for a good cry.

Despite good performances and solid direction, this movie leaves you wholly unsatisfied because essentially nothing climactic or surprising happens to tie it all together in the end.The conflicts between the various characters resolve themselves all too easily, as does the problem Daltry is having with his failing empire. The ending leaves you feeling that once the script hit 100 pages, the screenwriter just decided to finish things off.Worth seeing for solid performances by Knoxville and newcomer Sophie Traub, but overall it just feels like a good idea that never develops fully.

Not much going on with this movie. The movie lacks substance, direction and people that can act. There were many directions this movie could have gone but it didn't take on any real direction at all. I believe it could have been a real "feel good" type of flick but after it was over I didn't feel anything. Without Sophie Traub's performance as June, this movie wouldn't rank more than a 1 but because she did bring some character to it I gave it a 3. Knoxville's performance was disappointing especially after recently viewing him in Ringer.

Going into "Daltry Calhoun", I really didn't know what to expect. I've been a long time fan of it's star, the likable Johnny Knoxville, and knew it was something of a comedy, but that was about it. I surely wasn't expecting the type of movie that I got, but it was by no means a let down either. "Daltry Calhoun", While named after Knoxville's character, is actually more the coming of age story of Calhoun's daughter, June, as she's reunited with her father. The story is told from her point of view and is very pleasant, heartwarming and damn near a "family" type of film, save for a bit of bad language (probably the only time you'll hear "family" describing a film with Quentin Tarantino's name on the cover). It almost reminded me of a more contemporary and far less cheesy version of "My Girl", which will leave most of it's audience going "awww." as oppose to "haha". But for the kind of movie it was, a light sentimental comedy, I found it quite enjoyable.