8/10
Intense Small Town Kaleidoscope
19 April 2010
Is everybody too busy watching blockbusters to see this nice example of Indie film-making? It would be a pity, because they'd be missing a well-crafted cinematic narrative covering twenty-four hours in the small mountain town of Prospect. The film begins at dawn as a promising young country musician prepares for one last gig at the town bar, before heading off to see if he can make it in Nashville. As the day unfolds other citizens make their appearances - a regretful sheriff, his estranged wife, an alcoholic father, an overweight brother, a troubled ex-con and an overbearing mother. Their stories mingle in an varied mix of compact narratives, most of which are concerned with the relationships of parents and their children - some of them sentimental in tone, and others which display cold cruelty and pain.

A fine cast portrays this collection of characters realistically, while cinematographer Matt Kovalakides captures their high-country summer world so intensely that one can almost smell the pine resin. Everything speaks of a well-balanced team effort, and the characters and their stories are worth the dedication. By the time night falls over Prospect, a discerning audience might well feel they got more bang for their buck than if they'd seen a dozen self-important, hundred-million-dollar vanity projects.
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