Red Dirt

By: Scott Cranin
In-House Review - Jul 11 2012

Set in the small Mississippi town of Pine Apple, where the Spanish moss hangs off the live oak trees, it's eerily quiet and the secrets tend to fester in the corner and in the dark. Griffith (Dan Montgomery) lives with his aunt Summer (cult star Karen Black) and cousin Emily (Aleksa Palladino). First-time writer/director Tag Purvis has set the stage well for this evocative, most-definitely Southern, very sweaty and deeply satisfying film about an unsettled man and the drifter who changed everything.

Griffith and his cousin Emily wander through their lives without many guideposts. They watch over Aunt Summer - and keep the old place up - well sort of. Their lives are slow and uneventful in a sleepy, small-town way, until Lee, (Walton Goggins) a drifter comes into town. They both take a shine to him (in different ways, of course). Bonding quickly, Lee and Griffith forge a deep friendship - very deep. They fix up a cottage on the property - in gay relationships we'd call it nesting. And in one of my favorite scenes, the guys swim together and run through the rain naked (you gotta love that rain). And if you haven't seen the mistletoe hanging over these two guys by now, you need new gaydar installed. Constantly complaining about his role taking care of Aunt Summer, Griffith expresses an interest in leaving Pine Apple. As Lee announces that he might be hitting the road soon and invites, and sort of begs, Griffith to join him, Griffith considers it. But there is the gay thing that hangs over their whole relationship - are they - or aren't they? The lines are blurred....

A lush film with saturated colors, gorgeous score and that real Southern feel, Red Dirt is an assured debut from Tag Purvis. The performances are all strong, especially Karen Black and Dan Montgomery.

By: gbelly

By: FilmLover

I have this film from its original pressing a decade ago and it remains in my Top 10 for gay-themed features. Considering the many quickie gay features that are shoddily made these days, to watch a film with truly inspired and lush cinematography, a humid and haunting Southern gothic atmosphere, and memorable performances (incuding pre-fame roles for Aleksa Palladino and Walton Goggins, plus a truly refined performance from Karen Black) makes you wish our films were still made with such attention to detail and meant to make you feel something (other than the sense that you won't get that 90 minutes of your life back).

A bit surprised that lead actor Dan Montgomery and director Tag Purvis didn't break out further considering the quality of the film but anyone who enjoys romantic, unapologetically gay films will absolutely love this story.

By: Amos Lassen

"Red Dirt"
Romance
Amos Lassen
"Red Dirt" is an enigmatic film dealing with two major themes-agoraphobia and claustrophobia. As the film deals with the difficulty and pain of expressing love and the changes that love takes, we are witness to a southern family and how love affects it. This film is one that demands complete immersion into the story line. Set along the Mississippi River, the presence of the South is readily felt from the moment the movie opens. It revolves around the character of Griffin who longs to leave the south after finishing high school but feels an obligation to stay and see to his Aunt Summer (a bravura performance by Karen Black) who raises him after his parents died. Summer is not a well woman; she suffers from depression or is bi-polar-we do not know. She closer herself up in a room listening to operas. When he is not tending to his aunt, Grif hangs around with his cousin, Emily. Suddenly everything changes when a young drifter, Lee, comes on the scene and becomes Grif's friend.
There is a lot of character development in the movie. We see that Grif comes to terms with his sexuality with a quick kiss to Lee and so ends the question in his mind as to what he s sexually. Overtly gay, this film is not but after a second viewing of it. I saw many things I did not see the first time. When we meet Lee, we think that he is nothing more than a drifter with no goal in his life and no sense of direction.
The script has many problems but the movie has any pluses that negate the minuses. The acting is superb as is the cinematography. The emotional tenseness of the film is overwhelming. We not only see the emotions but we feel them as well. Although the movie is set in the present, the characters were not ready to admit their true feelings because of a primitive belief system in which the characters believed. Because of this, romance was not allowed to blossom. Perhaps this is reflective of people who are trapped by what they consider to be the rules of society. Yet with that the movie is a love story. It also deals with the evil perpetrated by the women in this movie. The lies and manipulations and calculations that they concocted were responsible to make Griffin the nervous wreck that he was. Griffin was unable to make his escape and he stays, imprisoned by a half-mad woman. He had the chance to find happiness but instead he imprisons his life by staying. It isn't to the bizarre end of the movie that any hope surfaces for Grif.
In today's world of determinist sexuality and the politics of identity, this movie fails drastically. People fall in and out of love and there is the overt hint that sex and love do not have to be related. This s what I found to be so interesting in "Red Dirt". Instead of the usual teenage coming out story there is no tediousness. It is a movie that s quite simply about love minus all of the gay clichés so associated with coming out.

By: just a reviewer

SPOILERS++++++SPOILERS+++++++SPOILERS+++++++SPOILERS

While an ending's being happy is not a requirement in any good film, it is certainly important that it be comprehensible. And in the case of this film, that ending is completely incomprehensible to me (you know, just doesn't make sense). Here we have an aimless drifter (Lee Todd) who we are led to believe has no particular goal in life, no place he needs to head out to (early on he even says himself: "Hell, I don't even know where I'm headed, exactly." Character Griffth's response: "You're driving without any direction?" Then, Lee: "I was headed this way." Then, Griffith: "East, without any destination?" Finally, Lee: "Yeah.") And, so what happens at film's end (after Griffith's being told a bit of rather astonishing and unsettling relationship news by Karen Black's character) when G. finally realizes and declares his love for Lee, but at the same time indicates he cannot leave together as they'd planned? Well, what happens is that the busy, busy, suddenly-on-a-mission Lee finds it vital to immediately leave the scene? Duh! Must be he has an appointment with the President of the United States, or some such. Plus, I guess it's not at all important that he's just heard the one declaration he'd been hoping to hear from the man he loves. In the final analysis, I do think that Griffith would have gone off with Lee had he not just found out what he did (but for now it would have to wait). Therefore, I cannot blame Griffith for the choice he made, at a critical point in his life----I can understand it. What I cannot understand is Lee's final behavior of hurrying up and 'skeedadling.' Perhaps Director Purvis has some reasoning for it (possibly he needed a tragic or unhappy ending?), but it's certainly beyond my comprehension. (Too bad the DVD is missing a Director's Commentary).

Despite my problem concerning logicality of the script, I nevertheless have to recognize one especially notable thing about this production. For me, that is the one actor who truly stands head and shoulders above the rest: Walton Goggins. This man possesses a very unusual "trembling intensity" to the emotional level he reaches in some scenes......an intensity which builds to the point of being passed to the viewer. A particularly notable example of this is a near end-of-film scene in which he has found Griffith to say goodbye. The emotional "shaking" which he is able to build to, as he apologizes for past feelings and acts expressed to Griffith, reaches an almost overwhelming level, pulling us--almost shaking as well--into his emotional turmoil. We not only watch and hear what he is saying; we begin to feel what he is feeling. Now, that's acting.

NOTE: One full star has been awarded just for what are, till recently, the most beautifully filmed outdoor scenes ever noted in a production having a major gay theme. The film's Introductory/Credit Roll scenes, as well as other outdoor shots, are absolutely stunning. (The "till recently" refers to the award winning cinematography of Ang Lee's "Brokeback Mountain")

By: dxg777

If you're looking for gay porn, don't buy this movie, if you're looking for a great movie about a love affair between two guys, with great production values, excellent scenery, great acting (bravo to Karen Black!), then buy this movie. I love movies that deal with gay issues, and this one ranks up there with; Maurice, My Beautiful Laundrette & Beautiful Thing. Two guys don't need to have sex to love each other, and this movie proves it.

By: Lady Mol

If you want great cinematography and a dreamlike film with long discussions about vegetables, then this is the film for you. If you want the least bit of a gay story, then I advise you look elsewhere. Like another reviewer, I didn't see the run in the rain sequence, and even the cover shot on the box (arms around each other) isn't in the movie. This film is about the successful denial of being gay. Not even worth renting let alone buying.

By: silvertron

By: Jody Renaldo

It's great to see that some people realize that gay life isn't bound by borders of big cities like New York City or Los Angeles.

Mississippian Tag Purvis comes home (back to Meridian, Mississippi to be exact)to film this wonderful film.

I won't go into the details as they are already detailed on the movie listing page - except I will say that Karen Black (Aunt Summer) rocks in this film and Dan Montgomery (Griffith) not only is a hottie but he can actually act.

I just want to thank Tag, and other Mississippians such as John Howard, Peggy Ullman Bell, and Thomas Hal Phillips, for putting the spotlight on queer Mississippi and the queer South.

By: Bamaliberal

I must say this is one of the Best Movies I have seen in recent years. If your into that southern black and white drama like the ones Betti Davis preformed in. Karen Black has outdone Davis in this one. Just think of it as a Sweet Charlot with a Gay Twist - Get out those crying towels.

By: Kirkster

I don't know who reviews the videos/dvd's for tla but, I didn't find it as "homoerotic" or "evocative" as the reviewer. I also didn't see the "run through the rain naked" scene that was supposedly in the film. There is one brief butt shot and one partial shot of a backside but that is IT. The story is somewhat slow moving and a little more eroticism would have helped out, considerably. I advise you rent the dvd first, then decide about buying it after that.

By: SkinnyEbert

First off let me say I am a fan of Dan Montgomery from his work in Wasteland. To me a highly underrated series. So I was looking forward to this film a lot. It has that slow gloomy feel to it like Jason Patric's After Dark My Sweet film--and believe me that's not entirely a good thing. I'm waiting for the Wasteland Box set.