White Lightnin'

2009
7| 1h32m| R| en| More Info
Released: 19 January 2009 Released
Producted By: Film and Music Entertainment
Country: United Kingdom
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Info

Deep in the heart of the Appalachian Mountains in West Virginia, where every man owns a gun and a moonshine still, abides living legend Jesco White, "the dancing outlaw". As a boy Jesco was in and out of reform school and the insane asylum. To keep him out of trouble, his daddy D-Ray taught him the art of mountain dancing, a frenzied version of tap dancing to wild country banjo music. After his father's death, crazy Jesco dons his father's tap shoes and takes his show on the road.

Genre

Drama, Thriller

Watch Online

White Lightnin' (2009) is now streaming with subscription on AMC+

Director

Dominic Murphy

Production Companies

Film and Music Entertainment

White Lightnin' Videos and Images
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  • Crew

White Lightnin' Audience Reviews

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.
Protraph Lack of good storyline.
Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good
Jenna Walter The film may be flawed, but its message is not.
amarsh18 I was very surprised by this film's quality. The directing was very well done. The aesthetic reminded me of a 90's music video, maybe Nirvana.The edit was expertly put together. There was never a dull moment in this film. The music was layered in nicely and heightened the tension in a good way.The acting from Edward Hogg left a lot to be desired in my opinion. It's not that he performed badly, it was a good performance of some character, but that character wasn't the embodiment of Jesco White. A Brit shouldn't have been selected for this role. They don't get the inherent hopeful humor even the darkest of us in the USA have. Brits are typically too cynical.Jesco was way too serious in this film, even as a child. A big part of what makes Jesco cool is his nonchalant attitude. Sure, I think there is part of him that was like Hogg's rendition. I just think the character that Hogg portrayed was two dimensional. There was probably something within him that was frightened by Jesco White to fully embrace his character. In that fear he acted out what scared him of Jesco. His violence, his intensity...but where was his humor? Where was his softer side? Even when he's talking about Cilla he seems more like Charlie Manson than Jesco.I thought Carrie Fisher did a great job as Cilla. The rest of the cast was excellent too. Even Hogg brought something meaningful to life, but there's a difference between meaning and truth. Meaning is the treatment of a symptom, truth is when many meanings come together leading to pure health.
CentralStateProductions "I happen to have friends in the "deep south" and their neighbors are moonshiners. Would wake in the morning hearing shotgun blasts, killing wild turkeys? "White Lightnin' puts all the myths of the modern day hillbilly to rest." Hogg is amazing and outrageous at the same time and the cast is strong but the story as cut is just too fragmented for myself to give a slightly better than average review. The film is also too short and I think it needed more narrative to tell the story-line better. Well shot and designed with decent euphoric imagery works like a bad acid trip. Haunting and stays with you equals success for these Filmmakers. Soundtrack is very creative and original, but my only major downer was the too fast, quick cuts editorial. I look forward to this Directors future work for sure! -CSPS-Media
roostersideburn This movie seems to just be arriving in the colonies. I liked it. But I predict a lot of people infatuated -- and rightly so -- with Jacob Young's early 90s West Virginia public TV cult sensation documentary "Dancing Outlaw" may not. Here's why. As someone who can get in his truck (yes, truck) and drive north (yes, I live farther south than Jesco)four hours and be at Jesco's doorstep (OK, put the gun down, hoss)I know there will be gripes about the Southern accents. Didn't bother me. There will be bitchin' and moanin' about the fictionalizationment (I just made that up) of some scenes. Again, didn't bother me. It's an interpretation of the doc, in my opinion. The inclusion of another Boone County legend, Hasil Adkins and his original, maniacal tunes, on the soundtrack is a huge plus. Jesco's real. Some of this was not. Just like the Young's documentary. In the end, it's a colorful story well told.
kosmasp There is no better summary line than the quote I used from the Guardian! The quote is on the poster of the movie too, along with "rollicking terrifying trip" and "white-trash psychobilly nightmare" both by Vanity Fair, and they fit perfectly. This movie is definitely a trip.A trip that's worth taking. A movie that you might think is more violent than it actually is. On screen violence is pretty rare, or better put not explicitly. Apart from that, the story of a man (white-trash) is almost linear, but nevertheless confusing and appalling at once.Bottom line: You'll either love this movie (because it's not only out there, but beyond) or you will hate it, because of it's craziness! I'm not going into story details, just be warned that this isn't for the faint hearted or overly religious. You could say it offends almost everyone it can!