The Keeping Room

Very good film with a wonderfully creative script. However this film lost 1 star for the poorly stabilized camera work. It is a tragedy that the terrific work of the director, art director, and actors was obscured by camera shakes in the worst spots! In the film's most deeply emotional pauses, the handheld camera announced its presence, "Hey! Don't forget I'm here and bouncing around!" The key to this fresh use of the western genre—here transported to the Deep South—is the same slow burn found in all great westerns, but every single slow burn in The Keeping Room was upstaged by the poor camera stabilization. Gimbals are available for cameras during shooting in order to make handheld work look great, and digital stabilizers are available for the Avid software used in editing this, what could have been a masterpiece.

An interesting film, well made with good acting. Watchable but no classic.