Timbertown

The challenge of life “under the sun” in the rural Midwest

In the Ohio River region of southern Indiana, three people’s lives intersect after the death of a hypocritical pastor: A hardworking logger from a struggling family, a Department of Natural Resources officer looking for more action and a grieving widow.

"Timbertown" (2019) is a psychological crime drama Indie reminiscent of the tone of “Winter’s Bone” (2010), albeit not as dismal due to its inherent spirituality linked to the book of Ecclesiastes. There are even flashes of low-key humor. Similar flicks include "The River King" (2005), "Snow Angels" (2007), "Frozen River" (2008), "The Drowning" (2016) and, in some ways, "Rust Creek" (2018).

Such movies deal with the mundaneness of life in rural areas of the Midwest or Eastern America with usually a crime element; but they all depict the tedium of everyday life and the testing of character in one hardship or another. I point this out because some viewers might not appreciate the realistic, even tedious portrayal of everyday life.

This one’s refreshing because, while it honestly illustrates the challenges of life that we can all relate to—providing for your family, seeking respect or love, the pursuit of meaning, grief, the burden of guilt and need for redemption—it never descends into unrelenting bleakness, like “Winter’s Bone” and bits of “Snow Angels.”

There’s an artistic flashback sequence in the second half that’s done to classical music with no dialogue whatsoever. Although it’s arguably overlong, it’s well done and I didn’t have a problem with it. The sequence is creative and smacks of originality, but I couldn’t help think of bits in “2001: A Space Odyssey” and “Watchmen,” although in those movies the sequences aren’t flashbacks and they’re shorter.

The film runs 1 hours, 30 minutes, and was shot in southern Indiana not too far from the Ohio River and, specifically, Washington County (which is a 20-25 minute drive from Louisville, Kentucky, to the southeast).

GRADE: A-/B+