Hal Holbrook didn’t win the Oscar for which he was nominated (“Into the Wild”), but the veteran actor, known for roles as disparate as Mark Twain and Deep Throat (“All the President’s Men”), gets an awfully nice consolation prize in “That Evening Sun.”
Holbrook shines in a rare film-starring role as Abner Meechum, roughly a Southern version of the character Clint Eastwood played in “Gran Torino.” Not quite ready to be put out to pasture, Holbrook’s widower Abner flees the nursing home where he’s been dumped by his greedy son (Walton Goggins) and returns to his farm in Tennessee.
Only the son has leased the place to “white trash” named Choat (Ray McKinnon in an expertly layered performance), whom Abner has long loathed. Grumpy and ailing, Abner squats in the guesthouse and intervenes when Choat beats his wife and daughter with a garden hose. Hostilities escalate from there.
Directed at a leisurely pace by Scott Teems, there are a lot of grace notes in “That Evening Sun,” including Barry Corbin’s hilarious work as Abner’s neighbor, a vivid sense of landscape and a visually arresting climax.
Running time: 110 minutes. Rated PG-13 (profanity, violence, sexuality). At the Cinema 1, Third Avenue and 60th Street.