Thankfully, the script by Chris Provenzano and C. Gaby Mitchell gives Duvall and Co. plenty to work with. As the film opens, Bush is basically an outcast living in the wooded hills outside of town. No one seems to know Bush, but everyone has heard stories about an allegedly violent past. They even go so far as throwing rocks at him when he goes to town for supplies.
After word reaches Bush that one of his old friends has died, he realizes that his time is coming to "get low" himself, so he goes to town to plan his own funeral. After a preacher refuses to help him unless Bush confesses to the sins of his past, Murray's funeral director and his young scion enter the picture, despite their fears, seeing Bush as a cash cow.
As the story plays out, Bush proves to be much more than the sum of the myths the townspeople have heard about him. He's capable of making new friends (Murray's Frank Quinn, Lucas Black's Buddy Robinson), has a romantic past (Sissy Spacek's Mattie) and has an old friend (Bill Cobbs' Rev. Charlie Jackson) who eventually helps him share his story with the townsfolk 40 years after the horrific act that led him to run to the hills.
Get Low dances on the line between comedy and drama for much of the 100-minute running time, and the end doesn't quite live up to how strong most of film is, but it's well worth seeing for fans of Duvall. Murray adds another solid, slightly smarmy character to his catalog, and Lucas Black, who you might remember as the young boy in Sling Blade, might be on the verge of a breakout, judging by his strong showing here.
