ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Humaira Grant
It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.
Kamila Bell
This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.
Beulah Bram
A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.
NateWatchesCoolMovies
Victor Nunoz's Coastlines is a nice small town drama with some top players all giving fine work, causing me to wonder why more people haven't heard of it, and how come it didn't get a wider release. In any case, it's low key and really captures the quaint rural vibe of less densely populated areas in the states. The cast is absolutely to die for, consisting mainly of very distinct, frequently garish actors who all play it dead straight and relaxed, which is a huge switch up for most of them. Timothy Olyphant plays Sonny Mann, an ex convict recently released from prison, quietly arriving back to his Florida hometown, and the dregs of the life he left behind. His Pa (the ever awesome Scott Wilson) is conflicted by long simmering resentment, and the love for his son buried just beneath. Sonny reconnects with his best friend Dave Lockhart (Josh Brolin), who has become the town's sheriff in the years gone by. Sparks fly between Dave's wife (Sarah Wynter) and Sonny, creating a rift between the two and illustrating Sonny's unavoidable knack for creating trouble for himself, and those around him. Further tension comes along when the town's local crime lord Fred Vance (William Forsythe at his most genial and sedated) tries to strong-arm Sonny into assisting with nefarious deeds, using his younger brother Eddie (Josh Lucas) to convince him. Even when tragedy strikes and these characters go head to head, it's in the most relaxed, laconic way that permeates southern life. Robert Wisdom has a nice bit, Angela Bettis shows up as a girl with a thing for bad boys, and watch for the late great Daniel Von Bargen as the local Sheriff. This one fits nicely into a niche that leans heavily on small town drama, dips its toes ever so slightly into thriller territory, and is a charming little piece that's worth a look to see these actors on an acting sabbatical.
Mike Boyd
I am so glad that I found this movie! I agree with reviewer ejlabolton that this is an "unexpected treat".I became a fan of Timothy Olyphant after watching Hit-man and Justified. So I started trying to watch all of his movies. This one is excellent.I don't know why this is not more well known or more highly rated. The acting is good, the story is believable and the ending is perfect. I don't want to give away any of the plot so won't go into details, but the characters seem real and draw you in to their lives.This film is a real gem and I hope more people can find it and enjoy it as much as I did.
rsternesq
Well, the actors did well. The men are all really easy on the eyes and the women look better than real people ought to. The camera work is pretty good and overall values (filmwise) are more than respectable. The message here is that male bonding trumps love. Well, here's a bit of a news flash. It doesn't work this way. Men can and do love each other in all kinds of ways and some men love women but not in this way. The end is more than an effort to tie up the loose ends. it tries to make a STATEMENT. The statement is wrong. Go watch Wuthering Heights, take two aspirin and watch Coastliners once more. Then it will seem pretty obvious that the old saying isn't "greater love hath no man than to lay down his wife for his friend." I for one understand the lag in releasing this. They should have redone the ending and maybe it wouldn't be so hard to remember the actual quote, "greater love hath no man than to lay down his life for his friend."
Nick Dets
Victor Nunez is on par with a lot of directors who use their surroundings as their muse. Like Scorcese with New York, Mann with L.A., or Shamalyan with Pennsylvania, Nunez builds his stories around an area he knows well: east coast Florida. His masterpiece "Ulee's Gold" used the enchanting backdrop of Orlando's peaceful outskirts to build on the emotional aspects of its main character Ulee. The movie came alive from Nunez's subtle, but powerful focus on atmosphere, character nuance and rich symbolism.It's disappointing that his follow-up "Coastlines" (which completes his "Panhandle Trilogy") had some of those elements in tact, but failed to use them effectively. The story is about a young man named Sonny (played by a well-cast Timothy Olyphant) who gets released from prison to a home town that has grown up without him. He gets back in touch with his old friend Dave, who is now a police officer and married to Sonny's old crush Ann. Simultaneously, he deals with unsettled issues from his old mobbed-up employers.From that story come some potentially engaging themes like revenge, jealousy, nostalgia, disenchantment and betrayal. However, disappointment quickly sets in when the scenes become more and more dull. The screenplay was written before "Ulee's Gold," and is extremely similar, with many characters and back stories almost exactly mirroring those of the previous film. "Coastlines" brings nothing new to the table, and has no energy with the subject matter at hand. As the movie moves on, it becomes hard to shake the feeling that Nunez had run out of inspiration.What the movie lacks despite energy is originality. The movie contains plenty of drama, but there is nothing happening that hasn't been done better in other movies. What Nunez needed, in order to transcend the clichés, was the rich undertones and subtexts that made "Ulee" so engrossing. Nunez needed another layer of depth to give weight to all the things going on in his story.There is no doubt that Victor Nunez is an excellent independent director. However, that doesn't excuse the fact that "Coastlines" is a movie that simply didn't need to be made.