"Main Street" is a terrific little 94 minute Independent movie from Magnolia Pictures. It was released in 2010 by Magnetic Releasing, just a couple of years after the story was written by Horton Foote (To Kill a Mockingbird). In my opinion, this film rates with the best that this writer and any of these actors have ever done. The characters are well developed, yet the performances are subtle, and if anything understated, as fits with the reserved people who inhabit the small cities of the southern United States. If you think Los Angeles and New York City are the "real world", you probably don't deserve this movie.

As others have indicated, this was an amazing ensemble cast wasted by a truly poor script. But, I think the biggest issue here is the outdatedness of the issues identified. In the world of 2010 United States several factors are just wrong in this film. I am wondering if Horton Foote actually wrote this script in the 1970's or 80's when the issue of Hazardous Waste was front and center. Yes, we still have concerns, but the use of nuclear energy is almost a given in our day and age. We rarely hear of hazardous waste spills, as the technology has so improved. We recognize that the risks often outweigh the benefits of a cleaner environment, but it is our reality until we can effectively convert to wind or solar energy to a large scale. The public demand, although present, just is not strong enough to get this job done. Therefore, hazardous waste is simply a fact of life today. In this script, I find Gus's fears of a spill far from believable, and cannot imagine him acting in the way presented.In addition, Mary's issues as a woman are truly outdated. First, we are no longer the mobile society we once were. People do not just leave to find work in other cities. A woman like Mary would be much more inclined, in today's world, to stay in her home town and become an entrepreneur. Women do have more options today. Also, losing her job for not sleeping with the partner at the law firm is just so passé. In our world of diversity training and liability, Mary would win hands down in a lawsuit. In Main Street no one even blinks when she is fired for being unhappy about sexual harassment. Give me a break!! And, as for her calling Harris a potential loser, $30,000 as income for an entry level cop doesn't sound really all that bad! And, if Harris is planning to become an attorney in the Raleigh/Durham area, it sounds like he has a very good future. Mary's leaving, therefore, is questionable! Bottom line for me, although I agree the script was pretty boring, I can imagine actors very interested in one written by a Pulitzer Prize winning author. But, watching this film, I felt like I was watching one of the preachy films of the 70's or 80's. It's biggest sin being it's irrelevance.

A very underrated and overlooked film. Since it is written by a playwright it has that pacing. There's nothing overly unique about its plot, but slice-of-life dramas don't always need to be. Its characters bring the setting and story line to life. The cast is loaded with named talent and all perform up to expectations. It's one of those films where you definitely forget the names of the actors and totally see them as their characters.Colin Firth's accent is off a bit, but he's always good. I watched the movie because I'm a Firth fan, but Orlando Bloom's performance is what earned it my 10 rating. The cinematography is excellent and fits the feel of the film. Main Street's score score is elegant. The make-up or lack of it and wardrobe are, in a word, perfect.

A few first things first. One. What were these very fine actors thinking, appearing in this movie? All due respect to the great Horton Foote, but, honestly.... Did anyone read the script beforehand? Or was it originally good and then cut back to the shell of a story that this movie became? Two. The Southern accents of its two British leads, Colin Firth and Orlando Bloom. Much has been written and criticized about them. I am a Texan. I had no problem with either of these actors' renditions of Texas and North Carolina accents respectively. I have known north Texas guys who sounded very much like the twangy, nasally Mr. Firth. That said, Bloom carries off this requirement with much more ease, in my view. My quarrel is in the casting, or MIS-casting, of Mr. Firth in the first place. If they needed a big, tall, good-looking guy who happened to be Texan, I think maybe there are several American actors who could have filled that bill. Or, in view of the BP oil spill, he could have convincingly remained British. (Though I think this movie's filming preceded that tragedy. It also was filmed prior to Firth's triumphant roles in "The King's Speech" and I would think "A Single Man" as well.)The other actors/actresses, who are all fine in their own right, were woefully underused. These actors struggle mightily against a truly tepid plot. No one comes off really well because there is no there, there. Stories are truncated or non-existent, or simply have some sort of quick resolution which no part of the story leads to in the first place. I won't go into detail about the plot of this movie, since it is so thin, but I would imagine a Lifetime cable movie with unknown actors could have pulled this off equally well. In brief: Big bad company and its big bad Texas rep comes to a small town where a sweet cop, his sorta sweetheart, an old lady and her niece, and a sad city council all strive to keep their lives going in a dying town. Texan, Gus, offers rewards and happiness in return for storing, y'know, a few lil' ol' barrels of bad stuff in the old lady's warehouse, which he has leased.I won't go into the nutty notion of grown children living with their parents and there being maybe a problem for them getting out on their own. Or the change of heart Gus gets in the blink of an eye to help wrap this thing up -- dust off hands -- the end.I am a fan of Firth, Bloom, Tamblyn, Burstyn and Clarkson and wishing this had never come their way or that they had chosen not to appear in it. My only guess is, they felt it had the potential to be something very good and they ended up participating in something they may not want to mention in the catalog of their individual careers.