Billy Bob's Filmography

LEVITY (2003)

Movie Quote
MANUAL:  I read a book that was written in the eleventh century.  The man said there was five steps toward making amends.  The first involved acknowledging what you did.  The second involved remorse.  The third involved making right with your neighbor, like if you stole his chicken you'd have to go and bring him another.  Only then were you able to go to step four, which was making it right with God.  But it wasn't until step give that you'd really get redeemed.  It had to do with being in the same place in the same situation, then, as it goes, you go and do something different.  Only I can't bring Abner Easley back like he was some stolen chicken.  I certainly made sure of that 23 years ago.  I don't believe in some God that's going to open his arms to me even if I did.

Plot
Recently and very reluctantly paroled Manual Jordan returns to the scene of his crime to try and make some sort of amends for his murder of a teenaged boy during a convenience store holdup.  He insinuates his way into the lives of the dead boy's unsuspecting sister (played by Holly Hunter) and her son while he helps out at a community center run by a minister (Morgan Freeman) who is unorthodox to say the least.   He also comes to the aid of a spoiled rich girl (Kirsten Dunst), who isn't what she seems.

What Billy Bob Gets To Do
Coiffure-wise, Manual seems to be a direct descendant of Brigadier Smalls from SOUTH OF HEAVEN, WEST OF HELL--a ghostly, long-haired man who, by his own choosing, is neither part of this world nor the next.  The scene where he silently follows an oblivious Holly Hunter, holding out a rose to her as she walks away, is beyond poetic.

Backstory
Director Ed Solomon was inspired to write the script for LEVITY after doing some community work and prison parolee who kept a picture of the young man he was convicted of killing above his bed. The resulting film opened the 2003 Sundance Festival. Yet another magnificently lens work by British cinematographer Roger Deakins (who also shot THE MAN WHO WASN'T THERE, A BEAUTIFUL MIND, and INTOLERABLE CRUELTY). 

Awards (for LEVITY)
International Filmfest Mannheim-Heidelberg (Award of Independent Cinema Owners, Ed Solomon) - 2003 - Winner

Relevant Links
IMDb Link
Official Site
Joe Blo preview
Romantic Movies review
Moviezone Ed Solomon interview

Related Merchandise
And speaking of poetry, Mark Olivier Everett's score, available as the soundtrack CD, includes cuts with titles like Taking a Bath in Rust, Sophia Writing in the Sky, and Manual's Got a Train to Catch.