The Quarry

This is a masterfully told tale on the level of a Henrich Boll or Carlos Fuentes short story. It is a story of people seeking redemption in a community that is defined by desperation. It is superbly set, acted, filmed, and directed. The pace of the movie is perfect, it helps tell the story. It depicts the power of despair to produce depravity that gradually masks your ability to see truth. In this small town, justice and redemption are sought within the four walls of a church building that serves as both a house of worship and a courthouse. The quarry is a place, like the church, where value was once found, but now only hides sin. The central figure is a man who murdered his wife and, while running from his crime, murders a pastor who is running from his own failures. He hides the body in the quarry, then poses as the pastor in the church, seeking anonymity and redemption as someone other than himself. But the power of his internal despair and its impact others cannot be quenched. He is contrasted by a woman who has the strength to love in the midst of the desperation and thereby retains her personal authenticity. In the end, the only one who understands life outside of the façade of religiosity and structured justice is the only one who through whom redemption can be found. I didn't find the ending quirky at all. It illustrates both the power and the unpredictability of despair. This is a noir film that is as much about the substance of internal survival as it is the power of personal of darkness. Michael Shannon’s performance really holds the movie together. He embodies the theme of despair without relinquishing the authority and determination needed in a sheriff. He plays the role with the grittiness, determination, and thinness of something that grew from over-harvested dirt. I hope this movie finds it’s audience. In this day of CGI and plot over substance, this is truly good storytelling.

This is an interesting plot with a murderer posing as a preacher in a dusty Texas outpost. Writer / directorScott Teems is a name that continues to gain notice, because he pretty much makes the kind of film he feels like he needs to make. Superb acting, everything, soundtrack... Can't say it's the most cheery film you'll ever see, but it's real. The blur between man of God and murderer is an amazing vehicle in this morality play. If I were writing a screenplay about a guy reviewing this movie, the reviewer's last line would be... "Kinda makes you think, ya know?"

Dark, gothic, restrained, THE QUARRY has all the better elements, dusty and sunbaked, of Cormac McCarthy, Edgar Poe, and just a hint of Robert Duvall's THE APOSTLE, only darker. The film subtle, the movement lithe and swift, the dialogue spare (elevating the dramatic tension), I loved everything about this film. Like HAMLET, to watch a second or third time is to discover another sparkle in this jewel. Scott Teems is a director with singular vision and reach, a true artist. I detected that in his work with Hal Holbrook, most particular in his first big film, THAT EVENING SUN, which I recommend highly, along with the series RECTIFY, among others. Wish there were more than 5 stars.

The first two thirds were artful and engaging. There's no mystery--a murderer on the run kills a pastor and tries to hide out by impersonating him in a Texas border town set in about the 1980s. Characters and setting are engaging. The acting and photography are convincing and effective. An appealing young woman is caught in the middle of false accusations against her family. Tension builds as evidence is revealed to the townsfolk and the less-than-sympathetic sheriff. At the same time, the fugitive has to confront his own sins while preaching to his erstwhile congregation. How will it all end? Having built a compelling drama, the screenplay veers totally offtrack at the end. Inexplicable circumstances, dangling plot lines, and an utterly implausible conclusion left me quite disappointed.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever sat through. I would have turned it off after about 30 minutes if I didn't have to pay for it. There was no mystery to this movie. Terrible movie. Don't waste you money or time.

I was looking forward to this and like many of the actors in it. I wanted to like it but I found character and story development to be very thin. I just could not bring myself to care what happened to anyone by the end of the film. Filmed well just nothing worth watching. If you want to see Michael Shannon and Shea Whigham in a solid movie check out Take Shelter instead. If you want to see a solid slow burn small town crime drama with real character development see A Dark Place with Andrew Scott instead or Sweet Virginia with John Bernthal and Christopher Abbott. Or Katie Says Goodbye with Olivia Cooke (and Christopher Abbott again). All of these are more worthwhile than The Quarry.

It says it contains a digital copy on both the sleeve and case, but unwrapped my new condition bluray to find no digital copy. Great movie, misleading advertising. Same thing happened to me but worse for New Mutants where I recieved a copy where literally everything that could be broken was and it was in a foreign language and got stuck partway through the movie. Haven't started the bluray yet of The Quarry, but I hope that isn't the case here. 5 star movies. 2 star service.

I like the drama story but not much action like the trailer shows, specially for $6.99 was overpriced.