BROKE SKY is quintessential southern noir the story of Bucky and Earl, two county workers breaking their backs to keep the highways clean of roadkill under the scorching Texas sun. When a carcass-removal call turns up something far more disturbing than a flattened armadillo, best friends are torn apart by a decades-old secret that will have them questioning everything they think they know about each other.
Starring: Will Wallace, Joe Unger, Bruce Glover
Directed by: Thomas L. Callaway
Runtime: 97 minutes
IMDBReview: Broke Sky
Thomas L Callaway’s thriller follows the story of locals Bucky (Will Wallace) and Earl (Joe Unger) whose job is to drive around the area collecting roadkill and there is a lot of it. They are soon faced with the prospect of a truck that is more efficient at collecting roadkill than their current system of shoveling corpses into a sack. Bucky and Earl are left with an uncertain future with one of them surplus to requirements. With Bucky married and his wife wanting a baby, he suggests Earl step aside and let him have the job but Earl has another idea. He suggests they work through the night, taking roadkill from outside their designated area and increasing their collection stats in the hope of proving their efficiency and being more competitive than the latest technology which requires just one man.
Earl is a bit of a ladies’ man and has no qualms about sleeping with one of the local women within hours of her husband being killed in a tragic accident. When Bucky and Earl pick up a young hitchhiker Tess (Jamielyn Kane), it’s clear that Earl already has his next conquest in mind. Nothing more is said until the two men take a call to collect an animal’s remains from an old man, Rufus (Bruce Glover), which is in a well outside. Instead of lifting an animal from the well the two men find the remains of Tess! While Bucky wants to go straight to the police, Earl insists they dump the body in a pit where they take the other remains. Earl reveals he has slept with Tess and knows forensics will link him to her murder but he is adamant that he had nothing to do with it. Bucky reluctantly agrees to keep quiet but as the two men fight to keep their jobs and remain silent their relationship becomes more strained.
Broke Sky has been compared by some critics to a Coen brothers’ film. It certainly has some of the ingredients though the execution isn’t quite up to the standards of the Oscar-winning brothers. That said, this an intriguing little mystery thriller that unravels at a decent pace though the final conclusion is somewhat lacking in any major surprises. Worth a look though.
Verdict: 3/5
(Film source: reviewer’s own copy)
About the Author:
I was born in Barnsley, South Yorkshire, England and have always been a bookworm and enjoyed creative writing at school. In 1999 I created the Elencheran Chronicles and have been writing ever since. My first novel, Fezariu's Epiphany, was published in May 2011. When not writing I'm a lover of films, games, books and blogging. I now live in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, with my wife, Donna, and our six cats - Kain, Razz, Buggles, Charlie, Bilbo and Frodo.
David M. Brown – who has written 746 posts on Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dave.
