The Upcoming
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Cinema
      • Movie reviews
      • Film festivals
    • Food & Drinks
      • News & Features
      • Restaurant & bar reviews
      • Interviews & Recipes
    • Literature
    • Music
      • Live music
    • Theatre
    • Shows & On demand
  • Fashion & Lifestyle
    • Accessories
    • Beauty
    • News & Features
    • Shopping & Trends
    • Tips & How-tos
    • Fashion weeks
  • What’s On
    • Art exhibitions
    • Theatre shows
  • Tickets
  • Join us
    • Editorial unit
    • Our writers
    • Join the team
    • Join the mailing list
    • Fund us
    • Contact us
  • Interviews
  • Competitions
  • Special events
    • Film festivals
      • Berlin
      • Tribeca
      • Sundance London
      • Cannes
      • Locarno
      • Venice
      • London
      • Toronto
    • Fashion weeks
      • London Fashion Week
      • New York Fashion Week
      • Milan Fashion Week
      • Paris Fashion Week
      • Haute Couture
      • London Fashion Week Men’s
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Instagram

  • YouTube

  • Tumblr

  • RSS


Sundance London 2014

Drunktown’s Finest

Sundance London 2014: Drunktown’s Finest | Review
25 April 2014
Keir Smith
Keir Smith
Avatar
Keir Smith
25 April 2014

With the name Drunktown’s Finest one would be excused for believing this particular film may be yet another macho American comedy starring the usual typecast actors and worn-out jokes. So it came as a bit of a surprise to discover that this piece couldn’t be further from this notion.

The audience is dropped straight into the lives of three young Native Americans in New Mexico as we are presented with vastly differing characters that all have specifically traumatic lives. Sick Boy is introduced as an outcast rebel with authority issues, Nizhoni is our sympathetically confused character as she is an adopted Christian girl searching for her biological parents, while Felixia is a young transvestite who has the most memorably dark introduction.

The narrative is fairly evenly split between the three separate paths as twist-filled character development is the driving force used to grip and enthral the viewer as we learn and understand the motivations and behaviour behind each person. The setting of New Mexico is paramount to building the story as the dusty isolated landscape mirrors the sense of abandonment each character feels.

The overlapping narrative and emotional journey draws distinctive comparisons with the Derek Cianfrance drama A Place Beyond the Pines, as the sense of karma and every action having a direct consequence is an integral theme. Yet the same problem occurs in both: that some stories are more interesting than others. Drunktown’s Finest struggles slightly to assign the satisfying amount of screen time to each story, though the development of characters – Sick boy in particular – is gripping enough to keep viewers attached.

While Drunktown’s Finest does offer up some interesting character-driven stories, there is an overriding feeling that there isn’t enough heart to offer complete substance, not helped by a couple of wince-inducing acting moments that detach the viewer from the key story.

★★★★★

Keir Smith

For further information about Drunktown’s Finest visit here.

Read more reviews from Sundance London 2014 here, for further information about the festival visit here.

Related Itemsdrunktown's finestfilmreviewsundance london

More in Sundance London 2014

Finding Fela

★★★★★
Laura Jorden
Read More

Kumiko, the Treasure Hunter

★★★★★
Keir Smith
Read More

They Came Together

★★★★★
Keir Smith
Read More

Little Accidents

Kate Knowles
Read More

The Voices

★★★★★
Kate Knowles
Read More

Memphis

★★★★★
Keir Smith
Read More

Frank

★★★★★
Laura Jorden
Read More

Fruitvale Station

★★★★★
Liloie Cazorla
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Tickets

Theatre tickets

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • TOP PICKS

  • The Kid Who Would Be King
    ★★★★★
    Movie review
  • Everybody’s Talking About Jamie at the Apollo Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Rip It Up: The 60s at Garrick Theatre
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • Mr Jones
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Bastille at Brixton Academy
    ★★★★★
    Live music
  • Fabian Kis-Juhasz autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Eudon Choi autumn/winter 2019 collection catwalk show for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Johnstons of Elgin autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Riona Treacy autumn/winter 2019 collection presentation for LFW
    Fashion weeks
  • Idol (Woo Sang)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Idol (Woo Sang)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Reconstructing Utøya (Rekonstruktion Utøya)
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • Tobacco Road
    ★★★★★
    Theatre
  • So Long, My Son (Di jiu tian chang): Wang Xiaoshuai’s expertly sprawling yet personal examination of three decades of life in China
    ★★★★★
    Berlinale
  • So Long, My Son (Di jiu tian chang) press conference with Wang Xiaoshuai, Du Jiang, Ai Liya, Yong Mei, Wang Jingchun, Qi Xi, Zhao Yanguozhang and Liu Xuan
    Berlinale

Instagram

Something is wrong.
Instagram token error.
The Upcoming
Pages
  • Contact us
  • Fund us
  • Join mailing list
  • Join us
  • Our London food map
  • Our writers
  • What, when, why

Copyright © 2018 FL Media Ltd

Sundance London 2014: Memphis | Review
Sundance London 2014: The Voices | Review