No. 22. (2020) GALVESTON April 18th.

Film No. 22 (2020)  April 18th.  7:45 PM. HBO Fox/Apple TV, Living Room, Mt. Hawthorn. W.A. 

"I've got something going on where I might be able to be a little bit of a help to you". (Roy offers Rocky the opportunity of a financial lift to take her away from the life she was inflicting up herself and little Tiffany).

This COVID-19 period is a distraction none of us desire, but it provides a time to forage for unsung film gems. Galveston (2018) is one such delightful discovery. A film seen in the U.S. on release but rarely viewed internationally. HBO/Fox (rent on Apple TV) has rectified that, thankfully.

Ben Foster (Hell or High Water), a hit man Roy, with a lung disease, lives a life to mirror what we assume reflects a battered past. During a job gone wrong he takes pity on Rocky (Elle Fanning), a hostage, he releases and takes with him during a hasty retreat. Roy doesn't require any company at this stage of his life but gradually his bond with Rocky tightens, Roy becomes her guardian reluctantly at first, but there is an inevitability about matters of the heart he can't control. 

Galveston is from the creative mind of True Detective creator Nic Pizzolatto. Pizzolatto won third prize for Galveston in the Barnes Noble Discovery Award in 2010 and  he teamed with highly acclaimed French actor/director Melanie Laurent (Inglorious Basterds) to bring this earthy, Samaritan story to the screen.

The final 7 minutes is a little muddled but I guess it's easier to capture the essence of all that's on Roy's mind in first person on the page than it was to capture the same emotions on screen. 9GUMS.