Review| Get Low: Confession Inspiring Peace

Guilt can cause a man to do some funny things. Some try to compensate by balancing out bad deeds with good. Some decide to end it all under the weight of their conscience. Some, like Mr. Felix Bush, lock themselves away for 40 years in hopes that time can mend all wounds.

Robert Duvall stars as Felix Bush in this 2009 period piece directed by Aaron Schneider. This was Schneider’s first, and so far his only directorial feature length motion picture. Schneider was able to assemble a superb cast that even a veteran director would covet, and he didn’t let it go to waste. Joining Duvall is Bill Murray as funeral home owner Frank Quinn, Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights) as Quinn’s employee, Buddy, and Sissy Spacek rounds out the main cast as Felix’s long lost flame, Mattie Darrow.

In the Apostle Peter’s second letter, he lists a series of virtues that we as Christians should be striving to add onto one another in order to partake in the divine nature through God’s promises. There is no shortage of commentaries breaking down these virtues and how we might rightly build upon them, so I won’t be doing that here, but I did notice a similarity in Get Low. However, rather than building virtues upon one another, we see in Felix Bush a progression of feelings that lead a man from a guilt which drives him into seclusion, to a peace which leads him with a smile on his face.

Guilt to Curiosity

Get Low begins with a curious scene of a man running from a flaming home. Something went wrong, very wrong. It’s clear from the start that our lead has something to do with it. And his notorious, self-imposed seclusion leads us further to conclude that he may have been the man running. Regardless, we see a man hounded by guilt.

Guilt isn’t exactly a feeling we yearn for. We tend to assign guilt to someone other than ourselves at all costs. If we can keep the attention off ourselves we can avoid any consequences. Or so we think. Felix Bush took this to the next level to the tune of a 40 year exile. But even his guilt could only hold him for so long. When he sensed his end was near, he became a bit curious. What do people think of him? What are the rumors going around?

Curiosity to confession

At first he puts on a good cover, even requesting his own funeral to hear every tall tale out there about him. But what he really wanted was something more personal. More from his own heart. He needs to get something off his chest. When focusing on confession, this is where the movie has some of its strongest spiritual elements. There is a terrific scene between Bush and old-time friend Rev. Charlie Jackson (Bill Cobbs) where they discuss Felix’s need to confess and seek forgiveness for what he had done. Felix says, “I built my own jail and put myself in it… for 40 years… that’s not enough?” Charlie’s answer is short and to the point. “You know it’s not”.

Felix thought 40 years should’ve been long enough to prove his remorse. Long enough to earn someone telling this story for him. Saying the things he couldn’t bear to say. 40 years. That’s not enough? The thing is, there’s no such thing as “enough” if you’re expecting to earn your forgiveness. We are saved by grace through faith (Eph. 2:8) and we cannot set our own parameters by which to gain forgiveness. But, confessing our sins is a good start.

Confession to forgiveness

“If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all ungodliness.” -1 John 1:9

Confessing our sins to one another has become pretty taboo. We want everyone to think we’ve got it all together, we know how to handle things and we can do it on our own. But this is the last thing we should be trying to make everyone think. Our fellow Christians could begin to feel alone in their own temptations and struggles. And to the outside world, it makes Christianity seem like little more than a quick self-help solution. Just turn to Jesus and all your problems will be solved. This couldn’t be further from the truth.

Confessing our sins, as Felix Bush desired to confess his past, brings a certain life and light to them that begins the process of getting right and making peace.

Forgiveness to peace

Unfortunately, while some promising moments may lead one to believe Felix is struggling toward the ultimate peace with The Father, the end result is little more than a coming clean moment for Felix. I don’t mean to take anything away from the power of the scene, because it certainly makes an impact. But the bits and pieces of any eternality tied to Felix’s desires fall to the wayside once this moment comes.

Be that as it may, there is a peace that Felix realizes once he confesses the sins of his past and receives forgiveness. He can enjoy the company of those he’s been disconnected with for decades. He can smile again at the thought of his future.

Get Low tells the story of a man seeking forgiveness but who is unable, or unwilling, to put a voice to it. He has a guilty heart. A heart of sorrow which led to a desire to confess and ask for forgiveness from the ones he wronged. In his case, he didn’t believe that was any of God’s business.

“They keep talkin’ about forgiveness. Ask Jesus for forgiveness. I never did nuthin’ to him.”

When we sin, we first and foremost sin against God as the source of the very morality which drives us to know when we’ve done wrong. If we believe we don’t need forgiveness from God, then we probably believe we aren’t guilty in his eyes as well. This is a faulty, self-righteous position that will lead to our death. The fact is that guilt, and more specifically, godly sorrow, can be a good thing…

“For the sorrow that is according to the will of God produces a repentance without regret, leading to salvation, but the sorrow of the world produces death.” -2 Corinthians 7:10

Sorrow with recognition of God is a sorrow that can lead to our very salvation. It’s a sorrow that causes us to turn to God in repentance and full confession of our own guilt and complete inability to make ourselves right. While the sorrow Felix Bush was experiencing wasn’t quite to this extent, it’s a good lesson for us all in the peace available through confession, and the embracing of our own guilt before God.

Much of one’s opinion of this movie will be determined by your liking of Robert Duvall in general. He doesn’t deviate much from his strengths as an actor, and that remains true in Get Low. There are a couple of scenes that don’t feature him, but he really carries the entirety of the film. The trio of Duvall, Murray and Lucas Black really works well, despite how strange those three all sound together. Each character, Sissy Spacek’s included, is given their own smaller arc tangential to Felix Bush’s central storyline. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek creates a warm and genial soundtrack that at times brings O’ Brother Where Art Thou to mind. The writing is solid and never seems to be at odds with the strength of these actors.

Get Low is streaming on Netflix and is rated PG-13 for some language including a handful of taking the Lord’s name in vain.