Paris, Texas (1984)
This movie starts with an intriguing hook with a mystery on why this man is walking alone in the desert, where he has been the last four years and what happened to his wife. But as the story evolves that mystery becomes less important as the drama of the family slowly unfolds. What I especially like about this is how the drama is presented in such a low key and almost mellow fashion. It is heavy topics, but everyone is generally being nice people wanting to help and to the right thing. Little conflict to speak of and no need for people acting overly dramatic. What left me a little puzzled is how Walt and Anne just left the movie in the last act. Their relationship with their adopted son and the issue of the returning father started out really interesting, but was left completely unresolved.
That doesn’t take anything away from the incredible convincing acting from the entire cast, some beautiful scenery - nature and big cities alike. It is definitely a slow burn of a movie but somehow doesn’t feel that long. There is an emotional intensity to every scene.
Rating: 4