No. 77 (2022) MONTANA STORY Sept 22nd.

 

Film No. 77 (2022)  September 22nd.  8.10 PM   QANTAS Flight 678,  Melb to Perth.

 "So I hear you've got a little family history from my brother. Pretty rough ha?" (Erin confronts home-nurse Ace with a revelation that she is surprised half brother Cal would share with a stranger).

Nominee Platform Prize; Scott McGehee & David Siegel, at the Toronto Film Festival Awards 2022.

MONTANA STORY is a solid drama about family. A general summation, I agree, which begs the question, so what? Well, firstly it is rare that I would choose a solid family drama as my first choice of inflight movie. Particularly if the flight begins at around bedtime! I'm prone to dozing off, even in the upright position. MONTANA STORY is solid. A film that totally captured my attention.

There is nothing new here. MONTANA simply brings together a family grappling with its past. Half brother and sister Cal (Owen Teague) and Erin (Haley Lu Richardson) return to the family ranch in, you guessed it, Montana; central plains country. Beautifully shot near a small town called Ringling, a part of Montana the locals call, "real Montana". This story, told over a few weeks, has our two leads gradually repairing their once loving relationship.

So how did this once loving family fracture? The truth is slowly unpicked as the wounds begin to heal, but not without the help of Ace (Gilbert Owuor) the on-site palliative nurse, long-time employee Valentina (Kimberly Guerrero) and her son Joey (Asivak Koostachin) who maintain varying degrees of care, compassion and loyalty to Cal, Erin and Wade. They never take sides but always add a new layer of truth and insight. 

My go-to film of this ilk is always, and likely always will be, YOU CAN COUNT ON ME. I re-watch COUNT regularly to check my compassion regulator. I probably won't revisit MONTANA in the same way, but it is a worthy contributor to the genre. 9GUMS.