Horton Foote: The Road To Home
Rating: A
Being able to capture the true essence of a story and its characters is something not easily for many writers. To truly master the art of story telling is something that may be just out of reach for many but every once and awhile a writer comes along with a pure natural talent of being able to tell honest and relatable stories to the masses in such a way that they resonate for a lifetime. In the latest documentary we learn about the life of one of those talented people Horton Foote in the new documentary Horton Foote: The Road to Home. The film from Anne Rapp follows the life of acclaimed Texas writer Horton Foote and delivers us his story through his own words and voice. She followed him with a camera for the last three years of his life learning as much as she could about this talented storyteller and now presents it here in this documentary along with commentary from many of the men and women Horton worked with over the years like Robert Duval and Richard Linklater.
The thing I know I found interesting about this film and Horton’s life is hearing just how uncompromising he would be with his stories. He knew exactly the type of tales he wanted to tell and how they should be told and if people did not see his vision he would simply walk away. That alone blows my mind because right now majority of the people in Hollywood and the entertainment industry are so willing to lose their focus and art by trying to please other people instead of staying true to their vision of what they work should be. It is honestly refreshing and inspiring. For someone with such an extensive career as Horton it is even more admirable. In case you did not know Horton Foote is a Pulitzer Prizing winning playwright, an Academy Award winning screenwriter, has won an Emmy Award for his TV writing and has won several other literary awards in his 70-year career. He had a knack for telling stories about small town life typically from his homestead of Texas. He worked right up until his passing in 2009 and left behind a massive catalog of work. To say that he was one of a kind would be an understatement.
Documentaries like this just feel important. They give us a glimpse into another side of success in the entertainment world that people may not see. If I told you to picture in your mind a screenwriter or a playwright what would you envision? Probably not Horton, and that is why stories like these should be told. A lot of it will feel like you are sitting with your grandfather while he recounts stories from his life. This documentary just has a personal feel that will leave you feeling like you really connected with Horton. It is hard not to feel inspired not just because of his breathe of work but also from the many people he worked with telling stories about how inspiring he was to so many people and how his work affected them. We scored Horton Foote: The Road to Home with a solid A rating. It is a story you should sit down and enjoy and hopefully be inspired by.