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Tyler Harlow

The Quarry


Starring: Shea Whigham, Michael Shannon, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Bobby Soto, Alvaro Martinez, Bruno Bichir

Director: Scott Teems

Based on the novel The Quarry by Damon Galgut

As a police helicopter circles above, a Man (Shea Whigham) is found on the side of the road by an alcoholic priest David Martin (Bruno Bichir). David feeds the Man, who joins him on his journey from Ohio to Texas. David is also running from his past and is looking to start a new life as the priest of a small town. When they stop at a quarry, David tries to convince the Man to confess and give his life to God, otherwise he will have to turn him in for whatever crime the Man is running from. The Man attacks and kills David, burying him in the quarry. The Man then assumes David's life, continuing to the small town to become the priest. His first night in town, his van is broken into with all his stuff stolen. Local Police Chief Moore (Michael Shannon) thinks local troublemakers Valentin (Bobby Soto) and Poco (Alvaro Martinez) are behind it and begins investigating, which starts to reveal that the new priest may not be who he says he is.


This thriller started out very promising with an intense opening 15 minutes that set the tone early that this was going to be an intense film about stolen identity. Instead, once the Man gets to the town, the film slows way down and instead becomes a character study about the Man's crisis of faith. There's nothing wrong with this except the movie doesn't really give us a reason to be invested. We know that The Man is the culprit and the movie doesn't give us much of a reason to care about whether he is caught or not. When the movie finally does reveal what The Man is running from, it's way too late to really understand his actions.


The script, written by director Scott Teems, doesn't have a lot to say. While the film is a little over 90 minutes in run time, there are many scenes that feel like they are there just to pad the thin storyline. Also, the Man doesn't seem really committed to pretending to be a priest to throw off the police. When he arrives he is told no one comes to the church anyway, but about 5 people show up to the first service and as the film progresses, more and more people go. But it's not anything the Man is doing to get them there, as he doesn't show any charisma or interest in running the service and even admits to the congregation that he doesn't know what he is doing. That being said, Teems does know how to make a good looking film even if the pacing is off.


It's a shame that the script didn't give the actors much, because they give the movie more effort than it really deserved and make it watchable. Veteran character actor Shea Wigham gets a rare leading role and makes the most of it. His scenes with the quietly intense Shannon are the highlight of the film, but there always feels like there is more brewing underneath their conversations that isn't allowed to surface. I credit the actors more for this than the script.


The film is serviceable thanks to the performances but this dull thriller could have been so much more.


Grade: C-

The Quarry is available on VOD.

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