If you love zydeco music then this movie is a great platform for it and you're going to love it ... the performers are clearly all very accomplished players and singers. Songs are presented in their entirety and there's a very interesting range which at one point shifts into 12 bar blues and at others references and showcases the lead character's and his extended family's Scottish origins.
So 10/10 for the music.
I also liked the premise that the loss of an older sister and mother had led to father and son leaving their Scottish homeland and looking for comfort from their extended family in the deep South ... and the son rediscovering his love of the accordian through a chance encounter with a local legend, playing in her own backyard, in a small Southern town.
What the movie also tries to convey though is how father and son are coping differently with their loss ... the son using the music and the affirmation he receives from the musicians he meets and plays with to edge him out of mourning his loss. The father seems not to understand or is unwilling to acknowledge or encourage this. But the reasons for this are not really explored. There are long faces and silences every time they are alone together, but these only go so far in exploring how the loss has affected how they feel around each other, and in the company of their family.
You may disagree. It certainly leaves you free to put your own interpretation on the father son story theme.. Maybe he was much closer to his mother ... likely she was the musical one and the reawakening of the son's love for music only makes the father's attempts to deal with his own grief the harder.
8 Reviews
Rare Film About Teenage Discovery Meets The Blues
t-d-t-m8227 August 2023
A lovely little indie gem about a teenager's passage of discovery and his musical talent and conquering life's challenges whilst facing the adversity of his mother's death.
It's a tragic but also beutiful film and a very rewarding passage-of-rights for an upcoming young musician played by the excellent Neil Sutcliffe.
Neil himself is not just a professional actor but an all-round musician guy. He's got great talent and screen charisma with natural charm and grace.
His playing is astute for a such a young person. His development from a shy lad to a stage-gracing musician is great to watch.
The road is about him and his journey to his musical freedom. His dad doesn't quite fully comprehend that his son is growing-up but in the end he does and he gets his blessing.
Casting is great. It's real Americana, baby! It's even got a legitimate juke box joint in it where they play! It's very loyal to bluegrass and Americana music. It's a heritage piece about a young star who is about to become a seasoned touring pro.
The end is very warming and touching. It's a lovely film. It's no CGI nonsense or action stuff. It's just warm and fun and great to enjoy in the evening. Excellent work.
It's a tragic but also beutiful film and a very rewarding passage-of-rights for an upcoming young musician played by the excellent Neil Sutcliffe.
Neil himself is not just a professional actor but an all-round musician guy. He's got great talent and screen charisma with natural charm and grace.
His playing is astute for a such a young person. His development from a shy lad to a stage-gracing musician is great to watch.
The road is about him and his journey to his musical freedom. His dad doesn't quite fully comprehend that his son is growing-up but in the end he does and he gets his blessing.
Casting is great. It's real Americana, baby! It's even got a legitimate juke box joint in it where they play! It's very loyal to bluegrass and Americana music. It's a heritage piece about a young star who is about to become a seasoned touring pro.
The end is very warming and touching. It's a lovely film. It's no CGI nonsense or action stuff. It's just warm and fun and great to enjoy in the evening. Excellent work.
Powerful musical background to a tale of loss and finding as a young Scottish lad discovers life through music in the deep south.
lornshillht-6932329 June 2018
A gentle portrait of a tight grieving Scottish father with few words to express his feelings and his musical son on their trip to family in the south of the USA. Through music, Murdo, the son, finds new challenges and new hopes. The small intimate scale of the movie, backed by the strong lively music that runs through it, taps into many rich themes of family, culture and the importance of music.
A gem
via-helena30 August 2019
A good story and solid script but this film is lifted by the performance of the young actor behind the principal character Neil Sutcliffe. A fantastic supporting cast and some goose-bump inducing music with astute character observation give this film a 3rd dimension. I'll admit to having moist eyes at some points.
I'd hope to see much more from Mr Sutcliffe in the decades ahead as well as more from Director Kenneth Glanaan.
I'd hope to see much more from Mr Sutcliffe in the decades ahead as well as more from Director Kenneth Glanaan.
More Songs doesn't Equal Character Depth
cjaymet3 June 2022
Though rich in culture and music, The Dirt Road to Lafayette should be a pensive stroll but it comes off more as a melancholic traipse. A lot of this is due to sluggish pacing, unnecessary side characters and an over-reliance on songs in place of character development.
A beautifully understated moving feature
grahambrixton15 December 2019
Bit of a stretch
iankellett-784265 August 2023
It's a bit of a stretch to find a young Scottish lad, shy and diffident, gingerly picking up an accordion he says he hasn't played for awhile then playing the bejaysus out of it. Bedazzled, local dyed in the wool Louisiana zydeco players offer him studio time and a place in a band. However, it's only a stretch. Other movies demand that you leave your brains in neutral in order to accept their alternative take on reality.
It's about grief and letting go. I find other offerings deal with these subjects better, and others worse. At least it doesn't browbeat you with demands on your emotions that are too shrill to work well.
Interesting to see that many reviewers on here were deeply affected by it, while films that I love leave others cold.
Don't expect a fast pace. Enjoy the music.
It's about grief and letting go. I find other offerings deal with these subjects better, and others worse. At least it doesn't browbeat you with demands on your emotions that are too shrill to work well.
Interesting to see that many reviewers on here were deeply affected by it, while films that I love leave others cold.
Don't expect a fast pace. Enjoy the music.
Zydeco ? What..
arthurcrown5 June 2023
Warning: Spoilers
If the music of Louisiana and the 'French South' is a mystery to you - this film with a combination of professional actors and professional musicians colliding by a combination of personal tragedy and accident good luck will enthrall you ?
We see the bereaved Murdo and his shell-shocked father reeling from the death of his mother AND sister. Yet as the film unfolds and Murdo's talent for playing the accordian begins to shine as he espouses a black accordion playing family and their Mexican associates which somehow transforms his life both presently and in the future ?
A great film that links Scotland to Louisiana as an unexpected story emerges. Some fine Scottish actors of international standing also take the story forward.
You've guessed where they're headed, haven't you ? Lafayette !
We see the bereaved Murdo and his shell-shocked father reeling from the death of his mother AND sister. Yet as the film unfolds and Murdo's talent for playing the accordian begins to shine as he espouses a black accordion playing family and their Mexican associates which somehow transforms his life both presently and in the future ?
A great film that links Scotland to Louisiana as an unexpected story emerges. Some fine Scottish actors of international standing also take the story forward.
You've guessed where they're headed, haven't you ? Lafayette !
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