As indie films go, Travis Mills and the gang at Running Wild Films hit the mark hard in the forehead with Durant's Never Closes. Tom Sizemore is bombastic as always harking back to his better days as Michael Cheritto in Heat, and before he seemingly threw away a potentially great acting career. Kudos to Mills for drawing a real character out of him in the role of legendary Phoenix restaurateur Jack Durant. Jon Gries as Dizzy Dean (? who would have thought of that?) adds an oddball tangent in a way only he and a few other oddballs could. The story is a bit choppy and it took me awhile to realize that the story was unfolding a series of scattered vignettes. Is Durant's' life passing before his eyes as he lay dying – or is he already dead? I'm still not 100% sure and that's part of the charm in this neat little throwback to an era when the line between good and evil was blurred by post war values and ambitions. A time when it wasn't always clear if the power players in The Valley of the Sun were wearing white hats or black, or both at the same time.
Shades of Jim Jarmusch peek through in Mill's directing skills and I for one look forward to more from this creative team.
On a side note: The re-creation of the bar at Durant's is in a word, astonishing. Having spent many hours in the iconic mid-town steak house over the past 20 years, I can tell you, it was like actually being there. Well done.
Shades of Jim Jarmusch peek through in Mill's directing skills and I for one look forward to more from this creative team.
On a side note: The re-creation of the bar at Durant's is in a word, astonishing. Having spent many hours in the iconic mid-town steak house over the past 20 years, I can tell you, it was like actually being there. Well done.