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White Lightnin' (2009)

Director: Dominic Murphy

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From Time Out London

Although Jesco ‘Dancing Outlaw’ White is a real individual, and the subject of no less than three different documentaries, this debut British feature weaves sundry biographical details into an awkward cross-hatch of oblique celluloid portrait and backwoods horror thriller. Pushing beyond ‘Deliverance’ territory into white-trash caricature, it’s uncertain whether this parade of manic country-style hoofing, substance abuse, violent psychosis and escalating carnage is intended as a heightened vision of White’s excessive personal trajectory, or merely a showcase for the filmmaker’s facility for faux down ’n’ dirty stylings garnished with leeringly adolescent Southern gothic carnage. It doesn’t convince on either score, despite an incessant first-person voiceover telling us how to process what we see. Still, a nod for ambition in searching outside the usual narrow-gauge of homegrown social realism, and leading man Ed Hogg really does give it everything he’s got, though you are left with the impression of unstinting effort expended on what might not have been a coherent idea in the first place.

Author: Trevor Johnston

Time Out London Issue 2040: 24-30 September, 2009

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User reviews of this film

Malcy Junior said...

Posted on May 01 2010 19:47 Top film, really enjoyed this as its a big departure from the usual Brit film that picks up on a story of personal addiction and how that individual manifests their own coping mechanisms. (all be it pretty sadistically) There is an element of black comedy about it and the soundtrack is perfect. Hope to see this directors work again soon as it will be interesting what comes next.

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