Downeast

Just watched this on prime. I love all movies regardless of budget constraints, who you know, whatever. I can't begin to imagine how difficult it is to bring a project to fruition in this crazy market and capturing a new England culture/feel with accents hard to replicate. Writing ok, plot ok, but the actors portraying a maine accent was really cool. Sounded a little more south boston than Maine but whatever. Great job with that. Snow.effects didn't match up but I probly think too much. I really liked this film. Wardrobe, shop at thrift stores locally. Camera, dp, use a dirtier lens and lower the lighting. What do I know? Oh, and there are more french in maine than irish but whatever.

Nice acting with Greg Finely and the rest of the cast. There is real star potential with Dylan Silver, she's funny but capable of showing range. The film really captures the feel of Maine.

"Big boys get in big trouble". Just ask Tommy DeVito. Oh wait, same first name just different movie. Anyway, do we really need another conch about organized crime? Oh well why not. APS films is there to keep that gravy train rolling. Their latest is 2021's Downeast. Yeah yeah yeah, everybody in Downeast talks tough, looks menacing, and loves to scowl. Yup, they're proud of it. Talk about a small time underbelly in the most obvious, possible way. Downeast stars unknowns that have been in many films in the past. You just don't know their C-list personas from Adam. Downeast is also East Coast to the nth degree. The lead is Greg Finley (he plays the brutish Tommy). Finley couldn't look any more like Tom Brady if he tried (yeah I think it's the height and the bone structure). Downeast is helmed by Joe Raffa. Not uncommon to the Hollywood industry, he's also an actor too. Raffa chooses the state of Maine as his earnest setting. Contrary to popular demand, Joe doesn't enlarge on lobsters, coastlines, and well, blueberries. Downeast is rather Raffa's Mean Streets for The Pine Tree State. Downeast is on the down-low, the downsized, and the down-and-dirty. As they say, "stay out of my place, I know your face". The bad guys here (or the goons) aren't millionaires or dudes that wear suits. They just run a bar/boxing ring, run the town (that's a stretch), and don't necessarily kill, just inflict the fear of killing. One of the henchmen characters looks creepy but parodies his role more than anything else (that would be Brennan played by ginger-haired Joss Giennie-Smith). I mean who does he think he is, The Nordic Man? All in all, Downeast with its numerous flashbacks, its machismo, and its cold violence may think it's putting Maine on the map as a cinematic, Mob hotspot. Nah. It's too conventional, too stock, and too blase for that. Don't let Downeast's novel, mise en scene dupe you.

WOW...... This is really worth your while..... With all the lame movies coming out of Hollywood lately this is a definite throwback to a much better time for movies... Very engrossing...well made and every bit of acting is spot on!!

A simple plot executed in a believable manner which makes this movie a worthwhile watch. The characters are gritty and not exaggerated like Hollywood typically does.

Emma Maddox as returns to her Maine hometown, haunted by the mysterious death of her brother Mikey years ago. As she reconnects with his best friend Tommy, the two rekindle their romance just as she begins to uncover the web of lies within her birthplace. Downeast is a story of crime, revenge, and the hope for a new life. Directed by Joe Raffa (who also directed the Maine-centric Dark Harbor and co-wrote the script with Greg Finley, who stars as Tommy), this film realizes that small town America is a place of lies, debts and darkness. Tommy is just keeping his head down and trying to just live out his life. Now, he's back in the world of the mob that he just wanted to forget. Maybe he could have been a boxer once, but now, who knows what will happen?

I grew up around this stuff, but in the Bronx, and it was the Italians. If you had anything to do with their world, you were never free. This is a little slow -- it seems longer than it is. Yet, it's good. I have one comment. It needed much more Kirk Fox. He steals the movie even though he is used sparingly. I'm going to look for him in other things.

Solid film from start to finish. Loved the story line with great acting to develop characters you love and hate all at the same time. As dark and heavy as it can get, there's some witty banter along the way that makes this a fun ride. Definitely recommend!

I stayed to the end of this movie, but wished several times to get up and leave. I should have listened to that inner voice. By the end I felt resentful of the 90 minutes I had spent in the film and could have been doing anything else like walking my dog. None of the characters were very well developed in terms of writing or acting. The two romantic leads had very little chemistry between them. And the characters made decisions that were definitely not in their own best interest or in the interest of anyone that they cared about. The whole thing was just a frustrating experience to watch. I gave it two stars only because the sequences on the boat were interesting and well done. I would have liked to have stayed on the ship longer and not venture into the town or any of the other nonsense. It felt unnecessarily violent in many parts and as we left I could hear other people wondering as I was why the main character made the decision he did at the end which seemed to serve no one but the bad guys. I guess I should feel lucky that it was the only one of the many films I saw at the Phoenix film festival this year that was really disappointing. Most were fabulous and I look forward to seeing them get broader releases.