Critic’s Picks: ‘Get Low’

“Get Low” is one of those fine character studies that is blessed with good characters and even better actors to bring them to life. Set in the hills of Tennessee during the ‘30s, it swirls around a legendary recluse played by Robert Duvall, who decides he wants to stage his own funeral. Bill Murray is a sly shyster of a funeral director more than happy to take his money and Lucas Black is his much better No. 2. Sissy Spacek has lingering affections and a bitter grudge toward the old codger that she’s still working through. And there’s a lottery to make sure folks show up. In director Aaron Schneider’s hands, it all makes for a blissful way to spend a few late summer hours — a warm-hearted story in the cold comfort of a theater’s deep-freeze.

— Betsy Sharkey