Blow The Man Down

Blow the Man Down (2019)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Bridget Savage Cole/Danielle Krudy

Starring: Sophie Lowe, Morgan Saylor, June Squibb, Annette O'Toole, Margo Martindale

From: Amazon

Those that are loving Sea Shanty Tik Tok, this is a motion picture for you.

Perhaps this should have been seen earlier in the month, when that trend was red-hot and I had heard Blow the Man Down featured a few of those. However, I'll presume it's still popular so it was timely to check this out. Before this past week started, it was NOT the plan by myself to see a bunch of movies that have depressing content, sad moments, death, or someone's mom passing away; that's just how it turned out. It won't be a trend that will be continuing for weeks to come. As for the sea shanties you sometimes hear here, of course none of them are Wellerman (which is about whaling anyhow) but the ones featured here are quite catchy, and it was quite the inspired idea to use them as a sort of Greek chorus.

I've heard comparisons to The Coen Brothers and I suppose it's understandable. The fact that it was written/directed by a pair of women and stars another pair of women as sisters who work in the fishing industry in a coastal Maine fishing town... that did intrigue. It starts off with their mom's funeral and due to her illness they are in dire financial straits despite the fact mom & the two daughters owned a store in that bucolic village. The sisters argued w/ each other so one of them left and this resulted in a crime that both have to cover up. Then it's revealed that the town has its dark side where various crimes occur.

This had potential and to be honest, not all of it was realized. Be that as it may, I can still rate it as good and there are no regrets giving this a shot. It was nice to see some familiar faces, like Annette O'Toole, June Squibb and Margo Martindale-who was the true highlight; however, special credit will be given to both Morgan Saylor and Sophie Lowe as the sisters. They had nice chemistry with each other & delivered w/ their performances where they had to display a range of emotions. There was also an interesting score from John Dykstra & Brian McOmber which fit the setting... and personally I was amused that in a soundtrack which otherwise was sea shanties or random modern rock tunes, TWO songs from The Greg Kihn Band show up, one you'll know and the other has languished in obscurity for almost the past 40 years now. This was something I was happy about; as I've alluded to before, I prefer tunes of an older vintage as they don't write 'em like that anymore...

Directors Bridget Savage Cole & Danielle Krudy may go on to bigger & better things in the future. As is, this was still a fine way to spend an hour and a half. I wouldn't mind visiting Harpswell, Maine (where much of this was filmed), as long as it doesn't feature murder or drug use.