Galveston (2018)

Directed by: Melanie Laurent | 91 minutes | action, crime | Actors: Ben Foster, Jeffrey Grover, Christopher Amitrano, Mark Hicks, María Valverde, Beau Bridges, Michael Ray Escamilla, G. Peter King, Jimmie Lee Sessoms, Elle Fanning, Sean Von Buseck, CK McFarland, Don A. King, Michael John Lane, Robert Aramayo, Rhonda Johnson Dents, Heidi Lewandowski, Adepero Oduye, Kayte Hughes

Mélanie Laurent made her debut at the age of sixteen alongside Gérard Dépardieu in ‘Un pontentre deux rives’ (1999), after which she starred in her home country France. Appreciation also came, including the César for best newcomer for her role in the film ‘Je vais bien, ne t’en fais pas’ (2006) and the nomination as ‘Shooting Star’ at the Cannes Film Festival in 2007. Outside France, her breakthrough came when Quentin Tarantino cast her in the role of Shosanna Dreyfus in his ultimate revenge film ‘Inglourious Basterds’ from 2009. Laurent turns out to be able to do more than just act; she sings, writes screenplays and also directs. And not without merit, because she now also has her first César as director, for the documentary ‘Demain’ from 2015. Her French-language films ‘Plonger’ (2017) and especially ‘Respire’ (2014) were well received and in 2018 she dared she made it to her first English language film: ‘Galveston’. The story was written by Nic Pizzolatto, the man behind the hit series “True Detective”. Under the pseudonym Jim Hammett, he adapted his own book into a screenplay. Reportedly, Pizzolatto – who is known as a huge control freak – did not want to be associated with the film under his own name because he did not quite agree with the final script. But ‘Galveston’ is certainly not a film to be ashamed of.

The film is set in 1988 New Orleans. Roy Cady (Ben Foster) is a hitman with a conscience and a drinking problem who has just been told he doesn’t have long to live. Mafia boss Stan Pitko (Beau Bridges) wants to get him out of the way and deliberately sends him on a deadly mission. However, clever Roy survives the attack and is about to flee the crime scene when he discovers a teen hooker (Elle Fanning) tied up. He frees her, she introduces herself as Rocky and they run away together. Rocky asks Roy to drive to Orange, Texas to pick up some things from her childhood home. When she comes out of the house, Roy hears a gunshot and Rocky is found to have a three-year-old girl in her arms. Hunted by the police and Pitko’s accomplices, they settle in a motel in the coastal town of Galveston, a place Roy remembers from his past. As a kind of improvised family they try to build a future. But the security they feel for a moment – ​​pretending to be on vacation – is very fragile, as becomes apparent when Roy tries to reach his doctor to ask how much time he has left. Pitko’s men are breathing down his neck…

‘Galveston’ is a grim crime drama and a dark road movie in one, which relies on atmosphere and acting. Laurent creates a pitch-black worldview in which corruption, incest and violence are the order of the day. At first glance, Roy and Rocky—whose real name is Raquel—are unsympathetic characters. He drinks way too much, is violent and has a criminal record to beat you. He knows he is signing his death warrant by going against Pitko’s orders. Rocky is in fact no better; on the one hand she is naive, on the other she seems to accept her fate with a shrug. But during the film a layer is always peeled off the hard exterior of these two protagonists and it turns out that people of flesh and blood are hiding underneath. Their future seems to be determined by their turbulent past. They try to accept that and come to terms with themselves. With Foster and Fanning, Laurent has gold in his hands. Foster – a top actor who has always been unfairly in the shadow of his contemporaries – is great as the taciturn, enigmatic Roy. You can see in his eyes that everything is brewing inside; it is waiting for the bomb to explode. Beneath his tough, battered appearance and the fact that he can sometimes be extremely violent, hides a man who does have a heart and an inner sense of good and evil. Foster gets a fantastic response from the equally strong Fanning, who, especially in an impressive and revealing monologue in the motel, silences the viewer. Suddenly we understand why she made certain choices in her life. Suddenly we feel her despair and why she feels she cannot escape her situation. The characters may not be very original, but they are layered and thanks to the great actors who portray them, they really come to life.

Laurent proves with ‘Galveston’ to be an excellent and confident director, who feels her actors perfectly and gives them the space to shine; perhaps that has to do with the fact that she herself is also a creditable actress. She also dares to take long shots (towards the end, when the ticking time bomb Roy is about to take his ultimate revenge, she offers us one beautiful long shot) and thanks to the excellent work of director of cinematography Arnaud Potier the film looks look stylish. The only flaw is actually the ending, in which an unnecessary artifice is used to complete the circle. As if the viewer himself could not tie up the loose ends. There is plenty to criticize about ‘Galveston’, but thanks to the talents of Foster, Fanning and the directing Laurent, we want to cover them with the mantle of love without difficulty.