A Single Shot

Last updated
A Single Shot
ASingleShotPoster.png
Theatrical release poster
Directed by David M. Rosenthal
Screenplay by Matthew F. Jones
Based onA Single Shot
by Matthew F. Jones
Produced by
Starring
Cinematography Eduard Grau
Edited byDan Robinson
Music by Atli Örvarsson
Production
companies
  • A Single Shot Productions
  • Bron Studios
  • Demarest Films
  • Media House Capital
  • Unanimous Pictures
  • Unified Pictures
Distributed byTribeca Film [1]
Release dates
  • February 13, 2013 (2013-02-13)(Berlinale)
  • September 20, 2013 (2013-09-20)(United States)
Running time
112 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Box office$18,642 [1]

A Single Shot is a 2013 American crime thriller film directed by David M. Rosenthal and written by Matthew F. Jones, based on his own novel of the same name. It stars Sam Rockwell, William H. Macy, Ted Levine, Kelly Reilly and Jason Isaacs.

Contents

Plot

John Moon's wife recently took their son and left. Before John's father died, he was unable to pay the mortgage on the farm, and it was sold. John is depressed and an emotional wreck. He lives in poverty in rural West Virginia, feeding himself by hunting deer. While illegally stalking a deer with a shotgun on Nature Conservancy land, he accidentally shoots and kills a young woman. He then finds a box containing $100,000 in the abandoned van where she was hiding. He hides the woman's body in a shipping container.

During the following days, he attempts to reconcile with his wife. He contacts a local attorney to try to negotiate for his wife and son's return home and leaves the attorney several hundred dollars, drawing the attorneys' attention. John visits his son at his wife's apartment and interrupts the babysitter having sex with a recently released convict who has returned home. As he leaves he is threatened by a stranger who resents his glance.

John returns to his trailer and finds that someone has trashed it, apparently looking for the money. The dead girl's body is on his bed with a note. His wife shows up and wants to come inside and get her clothing, but John refuses. John visits the attorney and threatens him with a pistol, trying to force him to reveal what he knows. All he learns is that his wife was concerned about where John got the money and wants to talk to him. Later, while he is in his trailer, someone shoots and kills his dog. In another incident a rock wrapped in a note threatening his family is thrown through the trailer window. John suspects the ex-con is responsible for these events. He enters the ex-con's motel room and is interrupted by the ex-con's return. He hides in the louvered closet. The stranger from outside the diner arrives at the hotel room and asks the ex-con if he's "gotten the money back". The ex-con tells him that the woman who had the money has died and the stranger is furious. John sees him slit the ex-con's throat. The ex-con falls into the closet and sees John, but is unable to talk before he dies. John manages to avoid detection and goes home.

A friendly local girl brings John something to eat, and while they are eating outside, the radio in the trailer starts playing loudly. John goes inside to investigate, carrying a pistol. He hears the girl scream outside, and returns to find her held captive by the stranger. John is forced to discard his pistol and knife. The stranger asks John where the money is. John says he buried it nearby. The stranger tells him to go get it, but first cuts off John's right index finger and thumb, to be sure he can't use a weapon. John goes to his truck and gets a scoped rifle. Despite his wounds, he successfully kills the stranger. He takes the girl to town and returns to the trailer and a shed outside, which contains a freezer in which he has hidden the dead woman's body. He drags her body up the hill and digs a hole to bury her. Weakened by loss of blood, he's unable to get out of the hole. He pulls the girl′s body into the hole with him and looks up to see a deer looking down at him from the edge of the hole.

Cast

Production

Filming began in February 2012 in Vancouver, British Columbia. [3] The film was released on September 20, 2013, and distributed in the United States by Tribeca Film. [4]

Reception

A Single Shot received mixed reviews from critics. On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes , 47% of 49 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 5.6/10.The website's consensus reads: "It has a bleak sense of atmosphere and a terrific performance by Sam Rockwell, but A Single Shot is undercut by its predictable story and slow pace." [5] Metacritic , which uses a weighted average , assigned the film a score of 53 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews. [6]

Soundtrack

The music for A Single Shot was written by Icelandic-born composer Atli Örvarsson whose music is strongly rooted in 20th century modernism. The score was recorded with the London Metropolitan Orchestra. The soundtrack has been released digitally and on CD by MovieScore Media / Kronos Records. One of the special things about the soundtrack is that the shorter cues have been organized into movements, thus creating a program that sounds very much like a concert piece.

All music is composed by Atli Örvarsson

A Single Shot: Original Soundtrack
No.TitleLength
1."A Single Shot"1:06
2."Opening"3:20
3."Remembering"4:20
4."The John Moon Variations: Movement 1 – The Shot"7:00
5."The John Moon Variations: Movement 2 – Late Night Call"8:30
6."The John Moon Variations: Movement 3 – Showdown"9:45
7."Finale"8:26
Total length:42:27

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References

  1. 1 2 "A Single Shot". Box Office Mojo . Retrieved September 16, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "A Single Shot Official Site". Archived from the original on August 30, 2013. Retrieved August 23, 2013.
  3. ↑ Pulver, Andrew (February 12, 2013). "A Single Shot – first look review". The Guardian . London. Archived from the original on March 16, 2019. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  4. ↑ McNary, Dave (July 1, 2013). "Sam Rockwell's 'A Single Shot' Gets U.S. Distribution". Variety . Archived from the original on August 6, 2013. Retrieved July 23, 2013.
  5. ↑ "A Single Shot". Rotten Tomatoes . Fandango Media . Retrieved February 25, 2024. OOjs UI icon edit-ltr-progressive.svg
  6. ↑ "A Single Shot". Metacritic . Fandom, Inc. Retrieved January 19, 2021.
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