![]() White Lightning might not be exploitation cinema, but it offers a big dose of southern fried charm and start to finish fun. A personal favorite is when Gator wakes up at a home for pregnant teens with a circle of the expecting mothers looming over him. I wouldn’t label this as an insane movie, but it does have odd moments, to be sure. A lot of great lines can be found in White Lighting and they really shine since the cast is on point and makes the most of the script. White Lightning does have fun car chases however, which are even more fun knowing they were practical stunts not the CGI messes we endure these days. This ranges from fist fights to a couple shoot outs, but they’re not graphic at all. By the same token, blood is minimal but there is some violence from time to time. ![]() There are quite a few women with that special 70s style beauty, but they remain clothed here. You won’t see any nudity in White Lightning, as ole Gator is focused on revenge over getting his beak wet. I know this doesn’t seem like the typical movie I’d cover here, but this kind of “hicksploitation” can be a lot of fun, even when the pros try their hand. Solid production values, authentic locations, and just an overall immersive atmosphere help push White Lightning higher than perhaps the simple story deserves. The story is solid and while not deep or complex, it moves at a nice pace and never slows down much. I have a soft spot for deep south moonshine running movies, so White Lightning hits that mark quite well. The cast is great and seems right at home in the roles, from Burt Reynolds in the lead to Ned Beatty as the crooked sheriff to Jennifer Billingsley as the flirty and fun Lou. When things between Gator and the sheriff turn very personal, can a simple man like Gator take down the powerful sheriff?Įntertainment Value: This is not a blood soaked or sex filled kind of movie, instead it drips with Southern texture. So he shifts focus and decides to go after the sheriff alone, driven to do whatever it takes to take him down. As he gets closer to his goal however, he realizes that handing over the information he’s collected will put a lot of good people in trouble. Soon Gator, Roy, and Lou are out on runs and all the while, Gator is making notes about the moonshine routes. He is offered a chance of release-if he will serve as an informer and help. He is released and heads out, where he meets up with a hesitant helper named Dude, a veteran runner named Rebel Roy, and Roy’s “friendly” girlfriend Lou. Gator McKlusky (Burt Reynolds) has been convicted of running moonshine whiskey. After an escape fails, Gator pitches a plan to help catch a corrupt sheriff (Ned Beatty) in exchange for his freedom. Jesco encounters God, cutting and chopping himself until he dies to expiate himself of his sins.Plot: While he sits in jail for running moonshine, Gator McClusky (Burt Reynolds) learns his little brother has been killed. Jesco hid himself in the cabin deep in the West Virginia hills previously inhabited by the preacher, whose voice Jesco constantly hears in his head. ![]() After accidentally killing the officer who comes to arrest Jesco, he takes to the woods. ![]() And so this temptation is satisfied, and Jesco got the revenge he craved, brutally torturing and murdering the two. It was as though God were testing Jesco again, tempting him with the taste of revenge. Ray years earlier behind their pickup until he was dead, are released from prison because of a trial error. Long and Davie-the two men responsible for dragging D. An off-beat pair, the two managed to keep all their wickedness inside the family. On his way around the south, dancing and performing in whatever local dives he could, Jesco met the woman of his dreams-four-foot three-inch Enid Carter ( Carrie Fisher). But the devil has his ways too, and soon Jesco was back to his old vices. He tried to stay as straight as he could, and used the dancing to do so. Years after his time in reform school, Jesco had made the best of staying true to his daddy's word. He landed in the reform school more than once, and it was here that he spent most of his adolescence, left to endure the horror of the voices. Hooked on sniffing gas, glue, lighter fluid, and airplane cement, Jesco was constantly finding himself in trouble with the law. Maybe that is why Jesco loved to get high. There were the voices in his head, tormenting him. But from a young age, there was temptation drawing him away from D. Dancing was just one way to keep Jesco from losing his soul. Ray tried to keep him on a straight path-one that would put him on the right hand of the Lord. Ray White ( Muse Watson), the greatest mountain dancer of all time. Jesco White ( Edward Hogg) is the last of the West Virginia mountain dancers. Inspired by the life of Jesco White, an Appalachian mountain dancer, it was shown at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. It stars Edward Hogg, Carrie Fisher, Muse Watson. White Lightnin' is a 2009 dramatic film directed by Dominic Murphy and written by Eddy Moretti and Shane Smith.
2 Comments
|