Special movie, special dog make memorable Sunday

Dually, from Knoxivlle, had a major role in the movie

Dually, from Knoxville, had a major role in the movie

While everyone else was getting ready for the Super Bowl Sunday, about a dozen folks were having a very unique Knoxville experience.

Members of the Upper Left Book Club (more on them later) and a few hangers-on gathered in a West Knoxville restaurant following a matinee showing of “That Evening Sun” for a Q & A session with one of the film’s executive producers, Larson Jay. They also got to meet one of the film’s stars: a smart and sweet terrier named Dually.

You’ve probably read about the film, which stars veteran actor Hal Holbrook and was filmed in Knoxville, Blount, Loudon and Roane counties. It’s playing for the third week at Regal Downtown West Cinema 8.

The low-budget (less than $5 million, Jay says) independent film is about an elderly farmer (Holbrook) who runs away from a nursing home and returns to his farm only to find his son has leased it to what he considers a no-good, white trash family.

The movie is beautiful and sensitive. The characters are complex and yet familiar. And the settings are places we see every day: the downtown post office, Shannondale nursing home, farmland in rural Knox County, a cafe in Lenoir City, a portion of downtown Rockwood. It has won more than a dozen film awards, although it was not nominated for an Oscar (more on that later, too).

Larson Jay answers questions at Margarita's Mexican Grill and Bar. Gary Bentley listens.

Larson Jay answers questions at Margarita's Mexican Grill and Bar. Gary Bentley listens.

At the end of this post, I’ll refer you to some great links about the movie and its making. But here are some insights we got from Larson Jay on Sunday:

  • During the 22 days of filming in the sweltering East Tennessee heat (July and August of 2008), Holbrook, who will turn 85 next week, set the pace. “He was there before the crew in the mornings and he was the last to leave at night,” Jay said. “With him setting that kind of pace, you can be sure nobody else was going to slack off.”
  • When Holbrook was on set with his real-life wife of more than 25 years, Dixie Carter, you could tell they are still madly in love. “They were like little kids,” ‘Jay said. “You could tell they were delighted to be in love.”
  • Holbrook originally was not sold on the ending of the movie, which is a little ambiguous. Only when he saw it in a theater did he agree that the ending was a good one.
  • Holbrook and Carter are class acts. When Jay and his wife and co-executive producer Adrian Jay, had a baby five days after the filming wrapped, the two actors sent the baby a letter, which is now framed and on the baby’s bedroom wall.
  • Jay said his film company, Dogwood Entertainment, is an arm of his DoubleJay Creative, which is located at Volunteer Landing and does primarily television and video production work. He has several “rules” for what kind of films he will get involved with: they have to make you think; they have to be good stories; they have to be authentic. “They can’t be caricatures no matter where they are set,” he said. “No ‘Hee Haw’ hokey Southern characters.”
  • “That Evening Sun” had no product placements. The beer in the movie was a fake brand. The dog food brand was made up. The vehicles were real, although the companies did not pay a fee for them to be included. One of them belonged to state Rep. Frank Niceley.
  • Jay also answered questions about what a casting director does, what an executive producer does and how the fire scene was created (rubber cement!).
  • He said that although the team held out hope for an Academy Award nomination for the film or Holbrook, that really wasn’t realistic. “Most of the large film companies put more money into their Oscar campaigns than we put in our production budget, marketing budget and distribution budget,” Jay said. “We were competing with massive marketing machines.”
  • Most scripts that producers and directors receive to read are “garbage,” he said. And they can tell a good one within the first 20 pages.
Dually is so well-behaved that he sat through the entire book club meeting.

Dually is so well-behaved that he sat through the entire book club meeting.

About the dog

The role of Nipper is played in the film by a mixed breed terrier from Knoxville named Dually, who is owned and was trained by Connie Westerman, a groomer who runs “Bark Place” in Farragut. This was his first film – and may be his last since he lost one of his eyes last November due to an infection. “But who knows,” Westerman laughed. “Maybe he’ll be cast in a pirate movie!”

Westerman said Dually had to audition for the part. The important thing was that he could sit and “stay” off-leash and that he could bark on command. In the movie, he had to bark when Holbrook’s character said “hush.” In real  life, Dually responds to a hand motion Westerman makes. “And he had to have the right look,” Westerman said. Jay agreed. “He had to look like a rough Tennessee terrier. He couldn’t be a full-bred collie or something,” he noted.

Dually is truly a rags-to-riches story. Westerman found him by the side of a road when he was just four weeks old. She raised him on goat milk and baby cereal.

Turns out Holbrook took a real liking to the little scrapper. The actor was quoted as saying Dually was “the smartest dog I’ve ever seen in my life. He’s as smart as a human being.”

From left, Jeannie Dulaney, Rosa Marr and Dawn Ford

From left, Jeannie Dulaney, Rosa Mar and Dawn Ford

About the Upper Left Book Club

All eight members of the Upper Left Book Club have been through Leadership Knoxville where they all scored in the upper left quadrant of the program’s learning style inventory. “We are bottom-line kind of people,” explained Jeannie Dulaney, one of the members. “We will go to the end of a book first to see what happens.” When they discussed forming a book club, someone joked that they were so impatient, they might just read the Cliff Notes version of the book. “Or we could just go see the movie!” someone suggested. That idea “took.” Now, instead of reading books, they go to movies that are based on books.

“That Evening Sun,” which actually is based on a short story by William Gay, got a big thumbs up from the club, which makes a point to “process” each movie over drinks. Here are some of their thoughts:

  • “It resonated with me,” Dulaney said. “I had someone complain about the loudness of the cicadas in the film. But to me that was comforting. My own parents have been in Shannondale. And my grandparents had farms in Grainger and Hamblen Counties. The movie was comfortable to me because I really KNEW the locations.”
  • Rosa Mar said the film had four messages for her: the title itself was a metaphor for growing old; you reap what you sow in your life; sometimes people may want to rise above their situation but still be unable to; and you lose your credibility when you get old.
  • For Dawn Ford, the movie was extremely moving. “I cried because it reminded me of taking care of my father and mother-in-law,” she said. “People can be very dignified and work hard and make a living all their lives. And then suddenly when they get old, they are treated like children.”

I think Dawn also summed up another feeling we all had after seeing the movie. “Knoxville should be very proud of this movie,” she said. “A movie that is this good was made right here. This little company made such a fine movie and we should all be very appreciative and supportive.”

Other members of the book club are Robin Gibson, Lynne Fugate, Julia Bentley, Sara Rose and Kathy Hamilton.

In addition to the press kit on the movie’s official Web site, I recommend a story about it that appeared in the Aspen Times and this one by Jack Neely of Metro Pulse.

Club member Kathy Hamilton discusses the movie. Alan Carmichael is in background.

Club member Kathy Hamilton discusses the movie. Alan Carmichael is in background.

From left, Julia Bentley, Dawn Ford and Jeannie Dulaney. (This was a serious film.)

From left, Julia Bentley, Dawn Ford and Jeannie Dulaney. (This was a serious film.)

Rosa Marr, left, and Connie Westerman, Dually's owner

Rosa Mar, left, and Connie Westerman, Dually's owner

Larson Jay, right, cracks up Paula Patton, Dually the dog's "aunt"

Larson Jay, right, cracks up Paula Patton, Dually the dog's "aunt"

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5 Responses to Special movie, special dog make memorable Sunday

  1. Tess, on February 8th, 2010 at 9:34 pm said:

    I am glad to see Dually sitting there looking so happy and healthy and all. I loved, loved the movie. Just wonderful and so memorable.

  2. Preston Benjamin, on February 10th, 2010 at 3:06 am said:

    An elderly farmer who runs away from a nursing home and returns to his farm only to find his son has leased it to what he considers a no-good, white trash family.

    THIS IS A UNIQUE AND A VERY GOOD STORY. Never seen a movie with this scenario.

  3. Paula, on February 10th, 2010 at 9:56 am said:

    Cynthia,

    It was a pleasure meeting you, Alan, and the folks from the book club. Your write up is spot on and enjoyable.

    I’ve seen the movie, THAT EVENING SUN, about 4-5 times now and I highly, highly recommend Knoxville folks support it and go view it.

    In addition, as Dually’s “aunt”, flyball instructor, and movie hanger-on, I’m also delighted to see Dually utilized for more publicity, as well as being healthy again after his eye infection.

    Love ya, Du! (you too, Connie)
    Aunt Paula

  4. Cynthia Moxley, on February 10th, 2010 at 10:31 am said:

    Thanks, Paula! Great meeting you. Do you really think you can train my cat, Rexie?

  5. Paula, on February 26th, 2010 at 3:49 pm said:

    Rexie? To perform in film, yes. Litterbox etiquette, not so much…

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