After enduring one devastating personal setback after another in the small Texas farming burg of Hoxton, you would expect high school senior Maisie Thompson to be the first of her close-knit group of friends to "get out of this town a.s.a.f.p.," as her lifelong bestie, Kat (Quinn Shephard), is fond of saying.
But the snowballing series of life reversals for Maisie, played brilliantly by Madelyn Deutch, have forced her to grow up early and take responsibility for a disintegrating family, and to be present for close acquaintances who have stood by her through one ordeal after the next. She can't leave.
If it sounds depressing, it's not. At all. Maisie is buoyed by a support network of five high-school seniors -- friends for life -- who convene each Friday night in lawn chairs to swill cold beers and swap stories alongside Hoxton's vacant Main Street. The discussions range from girlfriends and boyfriends to disgust for the referees in the latest football loss. But talk inevitably swings back around to the main topic: getting out of Hoxton a.s.a.f.p.
She also is helped along by Hoxton old-timer Gil Denton, played by Barry Corbin in one of the great performances of his long career. Though beaten down by the ravages of old age, Gil is always close by to keep Maisie from sinking into a quicksand of misfortune. His group of geriatric friends face their mortality with tenderness and some truly hilarious moments. Gil clearly has the respect and affection of the six high-school friends, a sentiment that is reinforced when he shows up at their weekly Friday night gathering and blithely guzzles a long-neck in seven seconds.
Written and directed by Texas native Porter Farrell, Windsor is a wonderful film. It will make you want to go home and hug your mother, hug your father, hug a friend. It will have you looking for an injustice to fight. It will awaken your sense of fair play, and it may open your eyes to the struggle of the American farmer. (Maisie's dad Buck, a local farmer played by Joe Stevens, becomes an unfortunate victim of a nefarious and overreaching agribusiness corporation, sending the family into a tailspin.) Windsor will certainly cause your jaw to drop. The sweeping panoramas of emerald farmland in and around Gainesville, Texas, where the movie was filmed, are exquisite eye candy, for which Director of Photography Josh Pickering deserves a sackful of awards.
Bring your hankies. As Maisie's setbacks pile up, you will ache for her. But her resilience will remind you that people can be phenomenally strong, especially with the caring support of those who love them. But save most of your tissues for the tears of pure joy that the uplifting ending will surely bring.
