The Vast of Night filmmaker Andrew Patterson returns to screens with The Rivals of Amziah King
Courtesy Black Bear
Much like Hokum’s Damian McCarthy, Andrew Patterson ranks high on the list of Filmmakers to Watch. His first movie, 2019’s The Vast of Night, was a low-budget stunner that harkened back to The Twilight Zone, early Spielberg, and the “Gotta Light” episode of Twin Peaks: The Return.
If you remember nothing else about that movie, you probably remember its stunning four-minute single take establishing the sleepy geography of its small-town setting.
Seven years later, Patterson is back with another ambitious adventure, The Rivals of Amziah King. Like The Vast of Night, Patterson’s latest features a strong sense of place and memorable characters. Like The Vast of Night, its significant messy areas feel like unforced errors.
Beekeeper, musician and raconteur Amziah King (Matthew McConaughey) is a legend in his small town. On any given night you can find him jamming with his rootsy Americana band at a church potluck, swapping tales with his many friends, or collecting honey from his hives. When Amziah crosses paths with his former foster daughter Kateri (Angelina LookingGlass) he naturally brings her into his operation, teaching her how to harvest honey, tame swarms and join in neighborhood singalongs. After Amziah’s business gets hit in a string of honey thefts, Kateri steps up to protect the life she’s come to love.
The Rivals of Amziah King pulls from the films of the Coen brothers (particularly Fargo and O Brother, Where Art Thou?) in its look, eclectic cast of characters, and hyper-regional tale of greed and compromised morals. There’s room for the performers to play, from supporting folks like Scott Shepherd doing his best Boomhauer impression as local yokel Chimmy to McConaughey’s grounded, affable Amziah. LookingGlass, a talented but less experienced performer, struggles to match the rest of the cast’s energy, but ultimately gets there. Returning The Vast of Night cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz casts a warm late-summer sunset glow over the whole thing.
The first third of the film gets up and running with bonkers adventures charmingly told. Amziah rushes a cocky kid (Tony Revolori) to the hospital after a bizarre accident at the honey plant. He, Kateri, and Chimmy scoop up a swarm of bees living in the walls of an elementary school, with Chimmy volunteering to drive a school bus after its allergic driver is stung (he may not be licensed, but he lives in an RV, so that’s good enough).
After Amziah’s hives are stolen, however, the film’s energy changes drastically, and the transition is about as graceful as trying to drive a stick shift without pushing down on the clutch. There are three different movies in The Rivals of Amziah King, and Patterson’s inability to decide on a dominant narrative nearly ruins the whole enterprise.
In particular, the hangout tone established in the movie’s first section is lost by its surprisingly dark final act, with Kateri taking action on the by-then-absent Amziah’s behalf that Amziah himself surely wouldn’t approve of. The movie’s villain, a predatory farm owner played by Kurt Russell, doesn’t show up until far too late in the proceedings. It seems like the only reason he’s there is because Patterson found out Russell was available for a couple of days and willing to work for scale.
Courtesy Black Bear
All three distinct sections of The Rivals of Amziah King work individually, from the charmingly shaggy first third to the Tom Sawyer-esque heist of the middle third to the Southern-fried revenge tale making up the ending. What’s missing is connective tissue that keeps the energy, characters, and tonal shifts consistent. It’s never a good sign to find yourself script-doctoring a movie as you’re watching it. It’s a worse sign when the fixes are obvious.
In his first two films, Patterson has demonstrated that he’s great with setting and characters. What he struggles with is structure, and that’s a difficult hump to get over. There’s more than enough charm in The Rivals of Amziah King to argue that Patterson will eventually develop the necessary skills over time. If that happens, it’ll be a pleasure to experience. Right now, it’s still frustrating to see someone who’s so clearly gifted continually drop the ball.
