UNDERTOW
Directed by: David Gordon Green.
Produced by: Lisa Muskat, Terrence Malick & Edward R. Pressman.
Written by: Joe Conway & David Gordon Green.
Director of Photography: Tim Orr.
Edited by: Zene Baker & Steven Gonzales.
Music by: Philip Glass.
Released by: UA.
Country of Origin: USA. 107 min. Rated: R.
With: Josh Lucas, Jamie Bell, Devon Alan & Dermot Mulroney.
DVD Features: Audio commentary by director David Gordon Green & Jamie Bell. "Under the Undertow," behind-the-scenes documentary with optional introduction by Josh Lucas. Deleted scenes. Animated photo gallery. Trailer. English, Spanish & Portuguese audio. English, French & Spanish subtitles.

Gone is the Southern stupor of Director David Gordon Green’s last film, All the Real Girls. Instead, Undertow is a nail-biting, coming-of-age tale. Even as you breathe a sigh of relief, the sense of danger never dissipates - it’s only the calm before the storm. It’s also the sense of foreboding and the corrosive atmosphere of the film’s desolate landscape that will linger on.

Widower John Mudd (Dermot Mulroney) lives with his two sons in an isolated Georgian hog farm. Their home is in a time warp. By appearance, the film could be set in the present or in the 1970s. With stuffed animals everywhere, and chainsaws and axes within reach, the macabre and danger are omnipresent. Most of the farm work is done by Chris, the eldest, gangly son (Billy Elliot’s Jamie Bell adopting a spot-on accent). The younger son, Tim (Devon Alan), is too frail and sickly to help (but it is the passive Tim who pulls the strings in the family). Out of the blue, John’s brother Deel (Josh Lucas) arrives fresh out of prison. John is willing to let bygones be bygones and gives his brother a second chance. It doesn’t take long, though, for the uncle to notice the tension between his brother and Chris. Feeling deprived, Dale has not only a personal score to settle but is also seeking his share of John’s inheritance.

What begins as an homage to the Southern fried films of the ‘70s (almost anything with Burt Reynolds) soon turns into a family horror film, not unlike The Night of the Hunter (1955), but with a tone all its own. Josh Lucas clearly relishes being the out-of-control uncle. The charm he has exuded in his earlier film roles is used to a malevolent effect here. And intriguingly, Chris and Tim are hardly babes in the woods as the film implies that there really is no such thing as lost innocence. (Luckily for one so delicate, Tim can certainly run and keep up with his older brother.) As the two brothers flee from their uncle, running into the woods has hardly been scarier. Kent Turner
October 22, 2004

DVD Extras: The overarching theme of the extras is how much fun it was working on the set. In the commentary, director Green discusses how a lot of the crew also worked on his previous movies, and he jokes they “returned for more torture,” and it’s not hard to see why. While some of Green’s influences are quite obvious, it’s interesting to hear him point out specific flourishes that would generally be looked over, from the opening United Artists logo that was dug out of the archives to a ‘70s televangelist. The commentary also marks Jamie Bell’s first time watching the film in its final version, and he is not shy about getting excited about parts he generally thinks are cool. The behind-the-scenes look bolsters the good times image of the commentary. It stresses the importance of location and how Savannah, Georgia really set the tone of the movie. But it also shows the many problems the crew encountered, such as uncooperative weather, angry horseshoe crab fisherman, and rough terrain. How many behind-the-scenes documentaries do you see in which the cast and crew collectively count their chigger bites? The DVD also includes two deleted scenes that don’t carry the same tone of Undertow and are a little too creepy for their own good. Who wants that much creepiness when you’re having such a good time? Molly Eichel
August 1, 2005