I’m an easy mark for a neo-noir thriller and Galveston (2018) intrigued me because it was directed by Melanie Laurent. Best known as Shosanna in Inglorious Basterds, Laurent has directed several films in France and this is her only English-language American film (so far), an adaptation of a novel by Nic Pizzolatto, the creator of True Detective. Highways and motels, back alleys and factories, a road movie milieu with a touch of the Southern Gothic, pretty much in the wheelhouse of stuff like No Country For Old Men, Hell Or High Water (which shares a featured star in actor Ben Foster) and of course, True Detective. At the centre of this movie are stock archetypes and a familiar set-up: in New Orleans, an alcoholic henchman, Roy Cady (Foster) for a sinister crime boss, Stan Pitco (Beau Bridges), is sent on an errand to a lawyer’s house and is double-crossed. Surviving through luck and skill, and turning the tables on his assassins, Cady finds a tied-up woman named Rocky (Elle Fanning) and they hit the road together, hiding out in Galveston, Texas. En route, they also liberate Rocky’s child-age sister and hide out at a motel. For the most part, Galveston was what I expected but it was still very well done. Foster and Fanning are given room to deepen their characters and provide a sense of feeling as they move past their initial tension to a growing companionship, a shot at redemption for both these damaged outcasts. There’s also a sense of how the film’s approach sidelines some of the usual macho energy of these neo-noir crime flicks, sidestepping the desire for revenge and spending more time in a place of regret when everything finally catches up with them both. Apparently Pizzolatto wasn’t happy with the final script, which Laurent co-wrote and he used a pseudonym for the screenwriting credit. I do wish Laurent had pushed that deconstructive approach a bit further and unpacked the male ‘protector’ trope further. Still, it’s a very stylish movie thanks to Laurent and her regular cinematographer Arnaud Potier, sickly green neon, country western bars and single-take bursts of action. I liked it but your interest will depend on your love of Foster and Fanning, two underrated actors who are really good here. Available to stream on SBS On Demand. Recommended
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