Wednesday, October 8, 2014

The Overnighters opens Friday

I saw the Overnighters at this year’s Tribeca and I have to say that in a year of great documentaries it may very well be one of the best of the year. Yea I know I keep saying how good some films are this year, but this film has one key selling point over many others, the film has hung with me, I mean really hung with me in ways that many films at Tribeca didn’t.

You have to understand I saw 80 films at Tribeca and The Overnighters was somewhere in there. I went into it expecting it to be just a another film, but it impressed the hell out of me, despite getting lost, at the festival, at Unseen and in my head.

It’s a great film that fell through the cracks- would have it it wasn’t getting released this week.

The film concerns the influx of people into a small South Dakota town all looking to make money in the boom industry of Fracing. These are people who have nothing and have come to the town in the hope of getting a job which will, in theory put them on easy street. The trouble is they have nowhere to stay until they make that payday. The only person who really seems to be helping them is the local pastor.

Its an amazing story and an amazing film.

Here’s my brief Tribeca piece:

I only saw half THE OVERNIGHTERS. The reason I only saw half was that I really wanted to see the film after talk by other writers made me salivate. The trouble was there was no way I could see either public screening which left only the ability to see part of the press one if I wanted not to lose other films I had committed to. Based on what I saw this is one of the better films of the festival. The story of the small town of Williston North Dakota and the influx of men looking for work is one that will stick with you. Its about a lot of men drawn by the chance to make big bucks in the fracing industry. As they flood into the state they have nowhere to live and a local pastor tries to do the Christian thing by giving them a place to stay. Its great people dealing with real issues. I can't wait to see the rest. As I said one of the best (?) of the fest.

The film opens Friday and I fully expect to be stopping by the IFC Center to see it again

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