The Last Stop in Yuma County Blu-ray Review

 

• 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