colin spoelman

Coming Down the Mountain begins as Paul Skidmore starts his day, delivering meals to a series of older people, living in the dark shadows of the mountain hollows in eastern Kentucky. He stops off at Beulah's house and offers her breakfast, though Beulah is troubled by the fact that she needs assistance from a younger man. Paul reminds her that he's got his own troubles: an injury that hasn't yet healed and persisting unemployment. Beulah takes the meal, but it's clear that Paul is there for another reason: to purchase her pain medication, which she takes for terminal cancer.

Meanwhile Joe, Paul's son, meets his friends, Bulldog and Tyler for a game of basketball. Their immaturity only frustrates him, and after Bulldog dares him to "bite the head off a crawdad," the unsuccessful and humiliated Joe starts to feel that he has outgrown his friends. He finds himself alone, seeking escape beyond the mountains that seem to isolate and insulate his world.

Joe drives past his father, who berates him for never being home and Paul insists that Joe be home for a steak dinner, "So we can eat like a family." At home, Paul seems distracted and confused around his daughter and wife, who both are eager to find a way to connect with him, as their interactions have become empty. Amanda, the daughter, meets her friend Amber and the two plot a night on the town, driving around the movie theater and meeting older boys. Leah, Paul's wife, can't understand why he refuses to spend time with her.

Paul searches for escape in the quiet home of another woman, who shares his addiction and helps him to find respite from a demanding family. Paul loses track of time and misses the dinner he was so careful to plan.

Paul's absence at dinner sends each family member away: Joe heads to an abandoned strip mine to go camping, a euphemism for a night of drinking, which he has sworn to his father that he will no longer do. Amber goes to the strip mall parking lot to smoke cigarettes and enjoy the freedom earned from Amber's driver's license. And Leah, who remains at home, looks to confront Paul's friend Carl Taylor about his whereabouts.

Ultimately, each member of the family must confront his or her own notions of escape as their separate paths converge on the porch of their home the following morning. Long Day's Journey into Night, set in rural Kentucky, Coming Down the Mountain is a textured portrait of a family at odds with one another and the unforgiving place they call home.