Buster's Mal Heart (2016)

A family man's chance encounter with a conspiracy-obsessed drifter leaves him on the run from the police and an impending event known as the Inversion.

Director:

Sarah Adina Smith

Writer:

Sarah Adina Smith

Stars:

Rami Malek, DJ Qualls, Kate Lyn Sheil

3 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Rami Malek	...	Buster
DJ Qualls	...	The Last Free Man
Kate Lyn Sheil	...	Marty
Sukha Belle Potter	...	Roxy
Toby Huss	...	Deputy Winston
Lin Shaye	...	Pauline
Mark Kelly	...	Oscar
Bruce Bundy	...	Ranger Meg
Teresa Yenque	...	Adelita
Jared Larson	...	Dale
Sandra Ellis Lafferty	...	Mrs. Bowery
Nicholas Pryor	...	Mr. Bowery
R.J. Burns	...	Ryan (as RJ Burns)
Gabriel Clark	...	Bill Western
Lily Gladstone	...	Morning Shift Concierge

Storyline

The film follows a mountain man on the run from authorities who survives the winter by breaking into empty vacation homes. He's haunted by a recurring dream of being lost at sea and constantly has flashbacks of his former life of a family man.

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Plot Keywords:

male rear nudity | male nudity | bath | shower | f rated | 

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Taglines:

The Inversion is Coming

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

23 May 2017 (USA)

Also Known As:

Buster két élete

Filming Locations:

Kalispell, Montana, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend USA:

$7,137, 28 April 2017, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$72,622, 7 July 2017

Company Credits

Production Co:

Everything Is Everything,Gamechanger Films,Snowfort Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Rami Malek's identical twin brother Sami Malek serves as his body double.

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Goofs

Jonah tells the stranger that all the hotel's rooms are non-smoking, and that he has to have a credit card to book a room. In the mid-1990s, when the film is set, most hotels (especially in small towns) still had both smoking and non-smoking rooms. Also at that time, most smaller hotels would accept cash without a credit card.

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Quotes

The Last Free Man: What do you actually do? Whats your title?
Buster: Concierge.
The Last Free Man: [pause] Concierge.
Buster: [the last free man takes drugs out his pocket]
Buster: He, Hang on, man. You can't do that here.
The Last Free Man: "Concierge" comes from the Latin conservus.
[sniffs drug]
The Last Free Man: Which means "fellow slave." Don't take that personally. You're not the only person trapped in the machine. In fact, there are very few free men left.
Buster: Oh, let me guess. you're one of them.
The Last Free Man: [shrugs]
[...]

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Soundtracks

Quattro Pezzi Sacri
Written by Giuseppe Verdi
Performed by European Archive
Courtesy of Musopen

User Reviews

Thriller with Depth and Independent Charm

Buster is a man walking on the edge of a knife. On the run from the law in the Montana wilderness and fueled by drugs and crackpot theories, Buster breaks into cabins and rants about "the coming inversion" and when things will be turned upside down. He is the "last free man." In flashbacks we piece together events of Buster's shattered life and see glimpses of the person he once was. As a family man named Jonah, he worked hard, went to church, suffered verbally abusive in-laws and co-workers, and followed all the rules. During the night shift at a small town hotel, Jonah encounters a dangerous drifter who has a devastating impact on his life. It begins his transition to Buster. Who Buster really is and who he will turn out to be, is a matter of immense consequence to those Buster has brought into his life. It is a cosmic mistake that he got this far.

The film is a cerebral thriller. Part of the vanguard series at the Toronto International Film Festival, an integration of film and art that I love, the film has tremendous depth and independent charm. It includes amazing quotes, immense wit and creativity, Biblical allusions including a nod to the story of Jonah and the whale, and a dreamy puzzle of a plot. It is set mostly in Western Montana and the surreal forests of Western larch and firs. While I loved the plot, storyline and setting, it is a little disjointed and could definitely benefit from a larger budget and the filmmakers getting more experience under their belts. I work for the National Park Service and noticed the characters wearing our uniform askew, but I doubt anyone else will notice or care about the same. A film sound/audio company in the credits should get a prize for their name; Eargasm. LOL! World premiere seen at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival.