Don McKay (2009)

I'll tell you why so serious

Excellent but underrated film

The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Like many movies I see from Netflix, I never heard of this one until browsing for my queue. I have seen little of Thomas Haden Church since "Sideways", and Elizabeth Shue has been in many major and minor films, and I like thrillers usually, so I took a chance. The first third of the movie built slowly, and had a feeling of mystery and suspense and strange things going on. When Church first returns to his home town and sees Sunny, who is supposed to be dying of cancer, I immediately chuckled at how healthy she looked, figuring the director preferred to have an attractive lead over reality.As the film progressed, some scary moments occurred, as well as some darkly humorous ones, and for a while, I felt I was watching a terrific film. But like many movies in this genre, the promise of a logical explanation is sacrificed for either a convoluted complicated ending or a simple nonsensical one. This had more of the former than the latter, but it all happened so close to the end that it seemed more like a comedy than a thriller. Maybe that's what the director wanted, but it made the movie seem cheap and contrived. It reminded me of a better film "The Faculty", where one ending after another was piled on at the end in a "can you top this" fashion.Still, the movie held my attention, and I didn't fast forward, and though I felt a bit let down at the end, I still enjoyed it enough to give it a 7. I tend to be easy on grading movies, saving grades of 4 or less for boring films like "The English Patient" which was like watching grass grow, only slower. I had a smile on my face through much of Don McKay, along with a feeling of suspense. Worth a look.

(Credit IMDb) Don McKay, a high school janitor who leaves his hometown after a tragedy, returns 25 years later to rekindle a romance with his old flame, who is dying, but this homecoming brings McKay more than he bargained for. Don McKay was a peculiar little movie but one I heavily enjoyed. I was wrapped up in its strange aura at the very beginning all the way until the very end when it knocked me on my ass with its twists. For starters let me just state, this movie will not be to everyone's taste. Some will be very much be put off by it, but if you're willing to groove to it like I did, you're certainly in for a wild ride. What really helped Don McKay are the fantastic performances, and the smart script that goes along with it. We know that Elisabeth Shue's character is as wacky as sin when we first encounter her character, but the filmmakers did a terrific job of keeping us in suspense. My only real complaint is the abrupt ending. I would have liked to seen the conclusion go a bit further.Performances. Thomas Haden Church is magnificent as the lead. He's sympathetic, likable, and even carries a big sense of vulnerability to him. Without him in the movie, I really don't think it would have been as enjoyable as it was. Elisabeth Shue continues to age gracefully by looking beautiful as ever, and she shines in her role. Her kooky, yet likable show was a hoot to watch. Her chemistry with Church was also on the ball. M Emmet. Walsh is a great character actor and he's proved that, seemingly over decades now. I loved him as the mysterious Taxi-Driver. Melissa Leo is great in her role. We never know what to truly think of her, and I loved it. Keith David is good in his short role.Bottom line. I didn't expect to enjoy this nearly as much as I did. Don McKay is full of neat surprises, and a film I would gladly see again if given the chance. Small suggestion, two straight watches may help increase your viewing pleasure to fully get it. Recommended 7 ½ /10

Unfortunately, this movie has fallen into the hand of very incapable play-writer. (Yet, at the end of the movie, Don's reply to the detective's comment of "You're crazy" : "No, I'm just lonely") does move me profoundly and make me remember this movie for the rest of my life!) The movie has good main actors and actresses, sadly they fall into the hand of a lousy director. Some of the scenes even make you feel they are performing in a comedy-film.The camera-shooting and film-editing is poor enough to be graded "C".However, this is one of the very very few bad movies that could attract me to keep on watching up to the end. Its plot is excellent in aspect of suspense and romance. And you know that the actors and actresses (they by themselves are excellent) in this movie could be spotted much more brilliant if given a better director. May be it is the reason why this movie's popularity has shot up drastically ( Up 1,303% in popularity this week according to IMDb's Moviemeter).The release of this movie has rid the opportunity for other more capable movie-makers to produce a much better version: most people, having known the plot and story, would not watch a suspense / thriller movie a second time.

Despite how weird and confusing Don Mckay, aka Moment of Truth, is, it ends up being a pretty nifty mystery. A high school janitor goes back to his hometown to be reunited with his teenage sweetheart, only to get caught up in a complicated web of extortion involving an ex-husband, an inheritance, a mysterious disease and a murder. This is a VERY BIZARRE film, a mystery during which every other minute you say, what the heck is going on, until the ending wraps it all up. It features a very strange lead character as well, who is kind of grotesque and slow witted like Sling Blade. This is a very original movie. Have some patience and sit through it and you won't be disappointed.