Rama's Screen

In the heat of the Southern sun. Veteran actor, Oscar nominee Hal Holbrook (Into The Wild) gives a monumental performance yet again. This is not war between neighbors ala Lakeview Terrace, this is friction turns into conflict between… a man who wants his home back and a man who now resides in that home and all the reasoning behind it. THAT EVENING SUN is a well-crafted, well-acted drama that bears similar tones of some of past-time classics.

Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer discarded to a nursing facility by his lawyer son, flees the old folks’ home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace. Upon his return, he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Abner’s old enemy and his white trash family. Not one to suffer fools or go down easy, Abner moves into the old tenant shack on the property and declares that he won’t leave until the farm is returned to his possession. But Lonzo Choat, the new tenant, has no intention to move out or give in to the old man’s demands.
This sets up a ruthless grudge match between Abner and Choat, each man right in his own eyes, each too stubborn to give an inch. Angered by his son’s betrayal, and haunted by recurring dreams of his long-dead wife, Abner sets about his own path toward reclaiming his life. Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Southern sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery.

Screenwriter/director Scott Teems gives you the simplicity of the South. From the looks of the farm, the house, and the cabin right nearby, you can almost feel how relaxed and soothing it can be even in the midst of humidity. THAT EVENING SUN is a character-driven film. What’s great about the story is that each and every one of those characters has solid reason for doing what they do, for the decisions they make, and every one of them manages to counter the other’s opinion, to question their actions and make them seem like they’re the ones who’ve done wrong.

Old man Abner Meecham has all the rights to take back the house that he built, he tells his son that he doesn’t have many years left so his house is his only pride and joy, the audience agrees with that, thinking the son has become greedy. But then the son comes up with an argument justifying why renting the house is a wise decision and that time has changed, now the audiences face a dilemma because the son is starting to make sense.
Lonzo who rents the house, as abusive as he may be, does have a point when he claims that he’s got the house fair and square, the wife defends him on account of a fresh start despite the fact that he doesn’t have a steady job which becomes Meecham’s motivation for thinking Lonzo doesn’t deserve the place, so the story is very smart in that it pulls the audience to different direction, it causes you to side with just about anybody because each character has his/her flaws but you can understand and sympathize with them as well. So in the end, something’s gotta give.

Moments when Holbrook is contemplating, when he’s deep in his thoughts, as the camera pans out to the field and pulls back into his frame, that’s when you can sense man of many years of experience.
At first I thought Hal was going to do pretty much the same thing Clint Eastwood did in Gran Torino, bitter about everyone around him but there’s more to Hal’s character than meets the eye. He comes to his best friend, the voice of reason, but whenever his best friend tries to talk some good sense into him, he brushes it off. But he pours out every little detail from the past to his dog. It’s like there’s a certain guilt, responsibility or debt that he feels he needs to pay, which makes him stubborn enough to stick around no matter what and everything comes down to his late wife. He’s been carrying this unspoken remorse so much so that it fuels his anger when he finds other people in the home that he feels strongly obligated to take care of.

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