Review by EW

No matter how many wily old Southern coots and rascals Robert Duvall has played, he always finds a way to play another one and make him a fresh, unique presence. In Get Low, a backwoods period piece that suggests a William Faulkner short story that’s been put through the Sundance screenwriting lab (its ”authenticity” comes with a bad case of the cutes), Duvall plays a grizzly old hermit named Felix Bush who decides, for reasons that are not revealed, to throw himself a ”funeral party” while he’s still alive.

Duvall makes Felix a gruffly soft-spoken eccentric with a lethal mystique. We can’t tell if he’s demonic or romantic, or both.

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Review by New York Observer

In the maelstrom of muck that passes itself as filmmaking today, it is reassuring to come across the occasional gem made by genuine talents who still know how to tell a classic story with coherence and charm. The aura of William Faulkner lingers over Get Low, a chunk of down-home rural Southern folklore based on a real event in 1938, when a Tennessee hermit emerged after decades of hiding in the woods to hear the nearby townsfolk’s opinion of him at a mock funeral.

Moving the action back a few years to the Depression, this film, the debut feature by the Oscar-winning cinematographer Aaron Schneider, is a funny and tender retelling of that story, resonating with warmth and sardonic wit and containing a majestic performance by Robert Duvall.

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Review by Variety

With a mix of sly humor, homespun grace and affecting poignancy, “Get Low” casts a well-nigh irresistible spell while spinning a Depression-era folk tale from the Tennessee backwoods. Robert Duvall compellingly underplays the larger-than-life lead role of Felix Bush, a notorious hermit who rejoins society only to plan his own funeral party, and he’s backed by smartly cast supporting players who clearly savor the twofer of portraying vividly drawn characters opposite a consummate thesp. Appreciative reviews and savvy marketing could attract adult ticketbuyers, especially if this polished indie production emerges as a high-profile specialty release.

Loosely based on a real-life incident that has long been recounted as legend (with a few embellishments here and there), “Get Low” intros Felix as a taciturn eccentric who, for nearly 40 years, has sternly guarded his privacy while living alone in the woods.

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