- Starring
- Philip Ettinger, Cosmo Jarvis, Marc Menchaca
- Writer
- Elizabeth Palmore
- Director
- Braden King
- Rating
- n/a
- Running Time
- 114 minutes
- Release Date
- n/a
Overall Score
Rating Summary
This will be one of many reviews during this year’s Sundance Film Festival, to keep up with our latest coverage, click here.
The opioid crisis is one of the biggest problem plaguing today’s society, leading to addiction on a massive scale and the eventual death of millions. A deeply complex and nuanced issue, tackling it in any form is a balancing act. The Evening Hour is the newest film, based on the book of the same name, that attempts to tackle this issue with an empathetic hand that doesn’t forget that the people at the center of this story are exactly that, people just like you and I. While we are nowhere near perfect, we do what we can to get by. Though some may be unable to get behind the admittedly tough subject matter, many will surely relate to its characters.
The Evening Hour was about a man named Cole (Ettinger) who was simply trying to make ends meet, living in a small rural Appalachian town of Dove Creek, Virginia (brought to life by beautiful cinematography). Being a small town, everybody knew each other and Cole found himself seemingly at the center of everything. Cole, a caretaker at a nursing home, was also a supplier of not so legal painkillers. Despite this supposed contradiction, he still believed that he was a good man but this would be easier said than done considering to the brutal truth behind such a path as well as the questionable (and stereotypical) cast of characters that made up the rest of the town. While this arc was definitely compelling to watch, the film would falter and was nowhere near as compelling whenever it moved beyond drug supplier Cole.
The best part of The Evening Hour was of course Ettinger’s impressive performance as Cole. He may be underdeveloped as a character but using his charisma and great screen presence, every part of his struggle rang true while single-handedly carrying the film through its not so compelling moments. Regardless, hopefully this will propel him to more leading roles.
In the end, The Evening Hour may be based on a 2012 book but the subject matter is still very relevant today. This film may not be the most effective but hopefully it continues the discussion.
*still courtesy of Sundance*
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The EIC of the coincidentally-named keithlovesmovies.com. A Canadian who prefers to get out of the cold and into the warmth of a movie theatre.
