• Privacy policy
  • T&C’s
  • About Us
    • FAQ
  • Contact us
  • Guest Content
  • TLE
  • News
  • Politics
  • Opinion
    • Elevenses
  • Business
  • Food
  • Travel
  • Property
  • JOBS
  • All
    • All Entertainment
    • Film
    • Sport
    • Tech/Auto
    • Lifestyle
    • Lottery Results
      • Lotto
      • Thunderball
      • Set For Life
      • EuroMillions
No Result
View All Result
The London Economic
SUPPORT THE LONDON ECONOMIC
NEWSLETTER
The London Economic
No Result
View All Result
Home Film

Tomato Red: Film Review

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel Tomato red is almost the colour of Jamalee Merridew’s hair, and it’s the name of the Daniel Woodrell novel from which this film is adapted. Woodrell has written nine novels to date, a number of them set in the bleak forgotten lands of the Ozarks; mountainous country crossing over Missouri, Arkansas […]

Kit Power by Kit Power
2017-02-22 20:54
in Film, New Movies
FacebookTwitterLinkedinEmailWhatsapp

By Stephen Mayne @finalreel

Tomato red is almost the colour of Jamalee Merridew’s hair, and it’s the name of the Daniel Woodrell novel from which this film is adapted. Woodrell has written nine novels to date, a number of them set in the bleak forgotten lands of the Ozarks; mountainous country crossing over Missouri, Arkansas and Oklahoma. There’s clearly something cinematic about his work because two previous novels became the excellent Ride with the Devil (1999) and Winter’s Bone (2010). Tomato Red makes it a trio of successes delving in unexpected ways into life on the margins.

The film opens with the sound of owls and strings, and the sight of a brooding man sat in his used up old car next to a rail track. Wide spaces stretch out before him, the kind he’ll never have the freedom to truly exist in. Sammy (Jake Weary) is a very recent ex-con ready to return to old ways. He would have if an attempted burglary hadn’t led him to Jamalee (Julia Garner) and her brother Jason (Nick Roux), a pair of dreamers determined to escape the misery of their home in Venus Holler.

He falls in with them and their mother Bev (Anna Friel), a woman more accepting of a place she feels powerless to improve upon. There they ride through a series of dubious schemes aimed at finding a way up the ladder. Sammy is brought in as security of sorts, quickly becoming one of the family. Later tragedy will strike, the narrative hinging on a brutal development, but it isn’t the real tragedy. That occurred when they were born into a life at the bottom, despised by everyone else. In theory they can better themselves, but in practice every route considered acceptable is locked and barricaded. Is it any wonder they might try to work around the law?

Irish director/writer Juanita Wilson dwells heavily on the isolation felt by this unconventional grouping. She frequently slips the rolling hills into the back of shots, freedom in sight and out of reach. Trains are often passing through; coming from, and going to places while Sammy and his friends remain where they are.

Sometimes this restrictive feeling is laid on too thick. Sammy’s voiceovers fill in blanks that were already clear, dialogue occasionally doing the same. This is a subtler film than that though, told in heavy pauses and simmering emotion. One scene at a snobbish country club is hard to watch, just as the revenge they take is a fleetingly joyous release. Wilson also draws superb performances, particularly from Friel who’s given a solid façade gradually chipped away by events.

At various stages it feels like the next development has been pre-ordained, only for the story to pivot away. There are to be no easy answers. Standing in the back garden of a large country house, Jamalee asks why some people get to have all this. Tomato Red offers no satisfactory response, because the people asking the question are never afforded such luxuries.

Tomato Red is in UK Cinemas from Friday 24th February.

More like this? Read It’s Only the End of the World review here: http://www.thelondoneconomic.com/film/end-world-film-review/22/02/

RelatedPosts

Richard Curtis uses Al Pacino’s Any Given Sunday speech to inspire global action on climate change

Final Thoughts on Cannes 2023

Cannes 2023 Film Review: La Chimera

Cannes 2023 Film Review: Last Summer

 

Tags: Anna FrielDaniel WoodrellFilm ReviewJake WearyJuanita WilsonJulia GarnerNick RouxWinter's Bone
Previous Post

It’s Only the End of the World: Film Review

Next Post

Playlist: Best of FEBRUARY 2017

Subscribe to our Newsletter

View our  Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions

More from TLE

Sunak warned not to ‘bounce’ MPs into backing Rwanda legislation

Somerset Capital to close after losing $2.5 billion of assets

Johnson said ‘F*** You Daily Mail’ over Covid rule-of-six coverage

Sir Keir Starmer confronted by pro-Palestine activists in Glasgow

Govt considering creating a ‘state-within-a-state’ in Rwanda to get around Supreme Court ruling

Johnson blamed Welsh Covid rates on ‘singing and obesity’

Post-Brexit red tape has put £3 on every bottle of wine

Restaurant has best response to customer’s moan about being charged £8 for fish and chips

Covid inquiry: Johnson says he may have only read Sage minutes ‘once or twice’

Nick Ferrari has Susan Hall bang to rights over lost wallet saga

JOBS

FIND MORE JOBS

About Us

TheLondonEconomic.com – Open, accessible and accountable news, sport, culture and lifestyle.

Read more

SUPPORT

We do not charge or put articles behind a paywall. If you can, please show your appreciation for our free content by donating whatever you think is fair to help keep TLE growing and support real, independent, investigative journalism.

DONATE & SUPPORT

Contact

Editorial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Commercial enquiries, please contact: [email protected]

Address

The London Economic Newspaper Limited t/a TLE
Company number 09221879
International House,
24 Holborn Viaduct,
London EC1A 2BN,
United Kingdom

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • News
  • Politics
  • Business
  • Sport
  • Entertainment
  • Lifestyle
  • Food
  • Travel
  • JOBS
  • More…
    • Elevenses
    • Opinion
    • Property
    • Tech & Auto
  • About Us
    • Privacy policy
  • Contact us

© 2019 thelondoneconomic.com - TLE, International House, 24 Holborn Viaduct, London EC1A 2BN. All Rights Reserved.




← It’s Only the End of the World: Film Review ← Playlist: Best of FEBRUARY 2017
-->