- Director : Francis Galluppi
- Actors : Jim Cummings, Jocelin Donahue, Richard Brake, Barbara Crampton
- Subtitles: : English, French Canadian
- Language : English (Stereo), English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1)
- Studio : Well Go Usa
- MPAA rating : R (Restricted)
- Country of Origin : USA
- Number of discs : 1
- Media Format : Blu-ray
- Run time : 1 hour and 31 minutes
- Release date : July 16, 2024
On one hand, I
am glad that independent films like The Last Stop in Yuma County can
still get made, since the industry has been so drastically altered by the
shifting landscape of the Sundance Film Festival, not to mention the industry
changes brought by the age of streaming. On the other hand, even for someone who
loves edgy narratives and is a lifelong fan of the Coen brothers and their darkly
comedic take on film noir narratives similar to this, I could not defend some
of the choices made within The Last Stop in Yuma County. Maybe some
lines should never be crossed, but I think the larger issue here is the manner
in which they are crossed. What begins as an enjoyable little single-location
crime film turns into an exercise in despair and grief, though the filmmaker
doesn’t seem entirely aware of the impact of every decision.
Part of the
problem is an uncertainty over which character the audience is intended to
connect with, which results in some disappointing twists. The film begins with
the arrival of a knife salesman (Jim Cummings) at a gas station in the middle
of nowhere. Because the gas station is out of gas, the salesman is forced to
wait in the neighboring diner, which is somehow being operated with a single
waitress named Charlotte (Jocelin Donahue). They are soon joined by a pair of
bank robbers (Richard Brake and Nicholas Logan) who are also stranded while
attempting to flee with their loot. As more patrons enter the diner, the situation
becomes increasingly complicated, and dangerous for everyone involved.
While the film
takes its time to pick up the pace, all of the action seems to come too suddenly
once it begins. I literally had to rewind and rewatch a key sequence multiple
times, as the editing is so ungraciously fast that I could not tell who had
died and how. This is also about the point that the screenwriter seems to have
written themselves into a corner, and the remaining characters begin to change
their personalities and make increasingly frustrating decisions. I was
completely onboard with this film until the third act, at which point I quickly
lost interest in all characters and the resolution of the narrative.
Including an
ensemble of characters that is occasionally too large for its own good, The
Last Stop in Yuma County contains several memorable performances. In fact,
there is a lot about the film which is praiseworthy, which only makes the
direction of the final act that much more frustrating. There also could have
been a bit more effort to establish the time period of the narrative, as I spent
far too much of the beginning wondering why nobody had cell phones. The outfits
could easily just be interpreted as a representation of middle America, though
I eventually figured out that it was supposed to be 1970s, the film wasn’t much
help.
The Blu-ray release
for this award-winning indie film comes with an audio commentary with director
Francis Galluppi, executive producer James Claeys, cinematographer Mac Fisken,
and actors Jim Cummings and Jocelin Donahue. There is also a making of featurette
and the film’s trailer.
Entertainment Value:
7.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 6/10
Historical
Significance: 4/10
Special Features: 6.5/10
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