Union Bound

Two reasons why I went to go see this: one, my cousin Dane worked on the music, and two, I like history.

So what did I think? Time for the review! The story takes place during the Civil War. Two Union soldiers are captured by the Confederates. They are taken to a prison camp and escape shortly after. This is where I will leave off.

The story is based on a true event that was written by the main character, in his diary.

The characters are interesting, especially one that is humorous.

This is a low budget film, so I knew going in that it wouldn't be like the quality of a Marvel film. But the acting was decent, and some scenes did hit you with emotion and humor.

One of my only complaints is that when we watched it in the theater, the dialogue volume was kinda low, so it was hard to hear what they were saying at points.

My Final Thoughts: For a low budget film, it wasn't bad. Dane did a great job with the music, which really did impact the moments of a scene and show the Southern part of America; it fits. The action was decent and the story was good.

I thought it gave us a view of life outside of the battlefield and major troop movements we've seen in other movies/docs/shows of the period. It really focuses on what happens if you're not lucky to survive or be killed in action, but are caught by the enemy. The audio and soundtrack were good and not overdone. The cinematography and directing varies by shot a little but captures views of NC we haven't seen before on the big screen. Good color in most shots. The editing needed to be tightened-up a little and could have dropped 10+ minutes of long hangs on shots after the action/point was made to move the movie along a little faster. The main 3 actors as Joseph Hoover, Thomas J. Ryan, and Jim Young were believable, especially Tank Jones as Jim Young, very emotional performance. Trish Cook as Ms. Macintosh wasn't really all that part could have been, just reciting lines and not becoming. Overall worth the time if the period interests you. Feels like the first chapter of a set (I'd see).

This is a filmed version of a diary kept by a Union soldier who escaped from a Confederate prison camp in South Carolina and tried to make his way up North to freedom. It takes place in 1864. Along the way he encounters slaves, plantation owners, and Confederate soldiers.

The photograph, sets, and music are all wonderful. The acting is pretty good too, and for the most part, the actors manage to capture the nuances of the time. My only real complaint is that for survivors of Andersonville, these guys look much too healthy. Better makeup would have made for a more convincing story.

Fans of the Civil War will be particularly interested in this film but it has a wider appeal as well. The vignettes really portray the nature of the times.

I don't know how this film is receiving high star reviews. It's extremely boring, the acting is stiff and uninteresting. Union soldiers in dire staits needing to escape imprisonment, resorting to extreme measures to do so, would not be so clean looking. That southern bell who encountered them and offered them food is full of botox and plastic surgery, not to mention her southern accent and speech are very off-putting. All the high reviews of this film have to be from people who were involved with its production.

This film has problems; some of them severe. Production values would probably head the list. The film appeared to be made for less than $50,000. Obvious use of re-inactment ceremonies by various Civil War groups who trot out once a year to do fake battle were pretty much what this film used. That didnt cost a thing, except for the cameraman and editing. The B actors worked for scale, I am sure, and the story, although interesting, was not strong enough to overcome some lulls in the action and dialogue. The dialogue, most of the time, was not too bad. Some of the secondary characters were obviously first-time actors (or at least I hope they were). It appeared as if several community play groups may have been involved as well. The two primary buddy actors, Ryan and Young, were not too bad, but at times, the dialogue was stilted. Not a bad story, but could have been better with a few more dollars spent on it.