Good Day for It (2011)

Fresh and Exciting

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Good Day For It probably won't be seen by many people, except for the die hard fans of the actors involved (like myself), and the occasional casual viewer who stumbles upon it on a shelf of an obscure rental store, or perhaps an obscure corner of netflix. This is too bad, because it is an excellent, moody, emotional and tense tale of a man facing the fears of his past and reconciling with his family.The always awesome Robert Patrick stars as this man, Luke Cain, a tortured soul who once made a dangerous but necessary decision to rob a lot of money from his employer, nasty and sadistic crime kingpin Lyle Tyrus (the terrifyingly intense Lance Henriksen) , to save his baby daughter's life. He leaves his family after this, and does not return for fifteen years, when his daughter is older. When Lyle's gang spots him in town, things get violent and past emotions rise.Everyone in the cast is great, from Mika Boorem as Luke's hurt but hopeful daughter, Samantha Mathis as her mother, Richard Brake as Lyle's slimy brother Norman, and Hal Holbrook as a kindly Diner cook. But performance wise, the show belongs to Robert Patrick, a tremendous actor who had yet to be given a lead role until now, and plays it with a forlorn melencholy, and a stoic toughness that proves he is an actor to be reckoned with, and should be given far more roles such as this. Good Day For It is a great little indie feature with all the right touches of subtlety, beautiful rural cinematography, and smoldering danger. Highly recommended.

The good stuff: excellent cast, fabulous moody cinematography, and good suspense.The not-so-good stuff: most of the cast don't get to do much, the anachronisms, and the suspense being largely generated by the very, very slow pace.I'm a big fan of both Robert Patrick and Lance Henriksen, and I was thrilled at the chance to see these two actors together. Unfortunately, there's just one scene with the two of them. Since this film is a lot closer to portraying "real life", the performances are appropriately understated. It was obvious that bad things were going to happen, but it was impossible to say just how and when it would all play out, even right up to the end.Among the things that irked me was that some of the other excellent actors didn't get much screen time or their characters were basically along for the ride (literally for Christian Kane). Robert England made the most of his limited role, though, and I found him to be the creepiest of the pack of baddies. As much as the visuals were done well, I'd have liked less time devoted to landscape and more time devoted to character development and interaction.I found the Deputy Doug character to be poorly written and thus irritating to no end, despite a strong effort by Joe Flanigan. While I get that as a rural deputy he doesn't see a lot of action, he seems to forget whatever police training he's had. I was literally yelling "Call for backup!" several times while watching this at home on DVD. You can tell he knows things aren't right on several occasions, but he doesn't do anything about it. You see the conflict on his face, but he takes no action. He only seems to remember he's a law enforcement officer near the end when he's ready to take on the protagonist, because he remembers him from a photo, taken 15 years earlier, from a newspaper article on microfiche. (Yes, microfiche. Apparently only the teen daughter has any connection to modern society with her laptop.) But before that, he does nothing about the four bad guys with police records, who he had already pulled over once and let go, and who have his friends Rose and Hec obviously nervous when he picks up dinner at the diner. Instead, he drives off and then takes an exceedingly long time to even look in his take-out and see that his order is purposely wrong. Was the Doug character meant to be stupid or a coward? Or both? His actions or lack thereof have no consistent logic, so it's hard to tell.On the whole, it's a decent film and worth a look, but save it for a day when you can handle the dreary atmosphere and the extremely slow pace. And I dare you to not notice the rotary phone.

If you enjoy the minimalistic independent movies popular in the 70's you should give this film a try. At first glance, i thought this might have been the greatest collection of has-been actors in one movie in ages. First Robert Patrick, then Lance Henrickson, then Kathy ...what the hell's her last name...oh yeah Baker!. But... slowly... (the pacing is a bit lugubrious, but hey, i said it did have a 70's vibe) the movie grabs you. The cinematography, editing and soundtrack are all above average and the acting ranges from excellent ( Patrick and Hendrickson) to spotty (Samantha Mathis). Overall the level of suspense was consistently high and the story UNFOLDS, which i love. The payoff is pretty good though it strains credulity a bit. This movie reminds me of Lucky Mckee's 'Red' with Brian Cox (a film i HIGHLY recommend) in that it's a very simple story told with style and integrity and isn't that the bottom line in film art.

After seeing the film at the Sonoma Film Festival last week, I wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to writer/director Nick Stagliano for delivering an old fashioned drama/thriller that works on many levels. You can just see his love for the old westerns like "High Noon".The actors in this film were all terrific. Bravo to Robert Patrick for delivering his best performance in years. After so many years playing the bad guy it was great to see him step up to the plate in the hero role. He has such character on his worn face and so much sole in his steely eyes. I just became a huge Robert Patrick fan. And Hal Holbrook? He's a legend for a reason. His comedic delivery had the audience in laughter throughout the movie. Lance Henriksen? Fuggedaboudit, one of the best screen baddies of all time. His deathly stare and cold eyes had me in fear for my own life, the guy it crazy good. Then there is TV actor Joe Flanigan playing a small town deputy who has probably never shot his gun before, let alone come face to face with a killer like Lance Henriksen. Flanigan almost steals the film with his quiet performance.I honestly don't know what reviewer davidross was thinking. Sounds like someone with a grudge against all indie films because all his reviews are one stars. That's not fair in this case. Good Day For It is a terrific little film. I sat in a theater of 300 people at Sonoma and the people were at the edge of their seats till the very end. The film won the Audience Award for favorite film in the festival. Can 300 movie fans be wrong? I don't think so. If you get a chance to see this film at an upcoming festival I highly recommend you spend your $10 and enjoy it on the big screen where good films deserve to be seen.