James Earl Jones,
Lukas Haas,
Robert Duvall
The works of Texas-born writer Horton Foote are always dealing with transition and transformation, caused by the intermingling of time and experience, and Convicts is a prime example of Foote's themat...( read more
)ic consistency. It's also one of several fruitful collaborations between Foote and actor Robert Duvall, whose career has connected with Foote's at pivotal moments since Duvall's screen debut in the Foote-scripted classic To Kill a Mockingbird. And while Convicts may lack the emotional power of 1971's Tomorrow or the dramatic delicacy of 1983's Tender Mercies, it adds resonance to their mutual body of work. Here, in a story set in coastal Texas in 1902, Duvall plays an eccentric, dying sugar-plantation boss who takes a young boy (Lukas Haas) under his wing to teach him a few of life's harsher lessons.
His frontiers long since conquered, with slaves of the past now replaced by local convict laborers, the boss is a stubborn, violent, hardened relic of a bygone era, and Duvall's performance breathes feisty life into a man who's ready for death (well, almost), but not without firing a few more rounds from his trusty Colt .45. It's a bit theatrical (and veteran stage director Peter Masterson--Mary Stuart's father--approaches Foote's play adaptation with dry visual style), but Convicts is bathed in the candlelight of a passing age, and its tone is suitably wise and keenly observant. Barely released in theaters, this film is ripe for rediscovery. --Jeff Shannon
Flixster Users
46% liked it
289 ratings
DVD Release Date: April 12, 2005
Get It:
Stats: 17 reviews
Critic ratings and reviews powered by RottenTomatoes.com
Fresh (60% or more critics rated the movie positively)
Rotten (59% or fewer critics rated the movie positively)
All Rotten Tomatoes content is used under license from Rotten Tomatoes. Rotten Tomatoes, Certified Fresh, and the Tomatometer are the trademarks of Incfusion Corporation, d/b/a Rotten Tomatoes, a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment, Inc.
