“The Last Stop in Yuma County”
R/Crime/Thriller/90 Mins
Director/Writer: Francis Galluppi
Starring: Jim Cummings (“Thunder Road”), Jocelin Donahue (“The House of the Devil”), Richard Brake (“Barbarian”), Faizon Love (“Friday”), Nicholas Logan (“I Care a Lot”) and Michael Abbott Jr. (“The Dark and the Wicked”)
Synopsis: A traveling knife salesman is stranded at an Arizona diner in the middle of nowhere. A small town waitress is dropped off at her job by her husband, the sheriff of Yuma County. Shortly after, two men who just robbed a bank walk in. They also have guns in their jeans and $700,000 in the trunk of their car and they will do anything to protect their precious cargo. What could go wrong?
Review: I went into “The Last Stop in Yuma County” completely in the dark. I knew it starred actor/filmmaker Jim Cummings (who I’m a huge fan of and is an inspiration to me as an independent filmmaker), it absolutely killed it with audiences at last year’s “Fantastic Fest,” my film-centric social media timeline was full of positive word of mouth and director Francis Galluppi is already following his debut film with directing/writing the next “Evil Dead” movie, handpicked by Sam Raimi himself and was announced before this film was officially released. I skipped the trailer, glanced at the poster, and purchased it on my digital retailer the minute it was available.
In doing so, I just experienced one of the strongest film debuts I’ve seen in some time as well as one of the best films to come out this year. “The Last Stop in Yuma County” is a movie the indie film community will be talking about for years to come. Packaged in a brisk 90 min runtime is a vision that is tightly filled with juicy dialogue that’s darkly funny, suspenseful and unpredictable. It’s a film that will likely be compared to the works of the Coen Brothers or Quentin Tarantino. While I can partly agree with that sentiment, it does echo some of their work in terms of tone, but what director Francis Galluppi does with this film feels like it is entirely coming from his own unique voice.
What begins as a simple plot: visitors from out of town visit a rest stop in the middle of nowhere waiting for a gas trunk to arrive so they can fill up and be on their way. You briefly are introduced to each colorful character: the nervous, quiet and introverted knife salesman, small town waitress with the sheriff husband, a bickering older couple, and two on the run lovers who might as well be the 1970s counterpart of Bonnie & Clyde. Eventually it turns complicated when a hostage situation is initiated by bank robbers trying to run to the border with a bag full of cash yet no gas in their tank. Now, you may not quite know exactly where the story will go but you’re sure there is about one or two directions it could take. No matter what you assumed, it goes in a direction not any of you, nor me could have anticipated. However, before it gets to that nail biting inducing climax, the audience observes well written, unique interactions between the inhabitants of the diner. The first hour consists of conversations ranging from their professions, a deputy trying to please his boss, the sheriff to how hot the diner is because the air conditioner is on the fritz. Now, don’t get too attached because by the time we reach the last 30 mins of the film, tensions and humidity begin to rise and we are treated to a climax that had my jaw dropped on the floor. The whole time I was thinking, “Can they do that? Did the filmmaker just do that?!” I won’t spoil it for obvious reasons but I haven’t been so caught off guard by a third act in awhile. What follows is a plot twist every few minutes right up until the credits rolled…
In terms of performances, everyone is spectacular, this ensemble made each role their own. However, Jim Cummings and Richard Brake stole the film for me. When introduced to Cummings’ unnamed character, only known as the “knife salesman,” he is a timid and soft spoken everyman just trying to get to his daughter in time for her birthday. While Brake portrays Beau, one half of the murdering bank robbers brothers. This is a role I knew he could play exceptionally. Brake is a character actor that elevates every project he’s in no matter how big or small the role is. He comes across as a piece of shit, albeit a terrifying piece of shit, with a stone cold look of someone who’s next move is unpredictable. His performance grabs you in a chokehold and doesn’t let up. As the film progresses, you’ve already seen what kind of man Beau is, while it’s Cummings who waits to show his cards until the last half of the film. In turn, we see a dark side of this character you didn’t think was possible doing heinous acts you couldn’t see him doing in the first 30 mins.You can see on his face every thought he is thinking, calculating how he is going to get out of the situation. It’s a captivating performance up there alongside his role as police officer Jim in Cummings’ own directorial debut, “Thunder Road.” He is not only one of the best indie directors out there, he’s one of the most underrated actors working today.
Bringing it back to the incredibly sharp script, it feels as if you’re watching a theatrical play happening right in front of you. This is supported by the fact that with the exception of a few short scenes in a police station and few long and winding roads, it is primarily set in the diner of the rest stop in Yuma County. All while paired with a musical score by Matthew Compton and a soundtrack of jukebox hits from the 60s and 70s is what gives this film a classic vibe engrossing you into the picture, complimenting the film’s important moments perfectly.
When I’m not reviewing films, my filmmaking partner and I try to make our own with the hopes of making a career out of it. Unexpected life events and finances are pretty much the only thing keeping us from making a film/shorts every couple of months. Every once in a while, a film like “Yuma” comes around where I feel so inspired and am beyond moved by a piece of filmmaking, it makes me want to stop writing this review, pick up a camera and create something. It’s inspiring to see a filmmaker like Francis Galluppi come from making short films on shoestring budgets with his friends to making a moderately budgeted, original film still on a smaller scale but with such skill and precise vision. It is a hell of a calling card to Hollywood to show them that he is going to be one of the biggest directors in the industry one day. It seems to already be in motion as his next film is a sequel to one of the biggest horror franchises of all time, Evil Dead. It gives my friend and I hope for the future of cinema and it’s keeping me in good faith to get out and keep making original films.
Score: 10/10
Starting May 10th in select Alamo Drafthouses and regular theaters across the US and available to rent and purchase right now on Apple TV, Fandango at Home and Amazon Prime Video.
Link to showtimes here: https://wellgousa.com/films/last-stop-yuma-county
