Four Sheets to the Wind

Plot

Young Seminole/Creek Cufe travels from his small Oklahoma hometown to the city of Tulsa to visit his troubled sister, Miri, after the suicide and funeral of their father. While Miri struggles with her life in the city, Cufe becomes friendly with, and then romantically involved with Miri's neighbor, Francie, and begins to realize that his life has more possibilities than he had imagined.

Cast

• Cody Lightning as Cufe Smallhill
• Tamara Podemski as Miri Smallhill
• Laura Bailey as Francie
• Jeri Arredondo as Cora Smallhill
• Jon Proudstar as Jim
• Mike Randleman as Sonny
• Richard Ray Whitman as Frankie Smallhill

Production

The script was developed with the support of the Sundance Institute and was filmed in Holdenville, Oklahoma (Harjo's hometown) and in Tulsa. Harjo has commented that one of his purposes in writing the script was to react against expectations and stereotypes, for example by depicting Cufe "drinking a beer" while not making alcoholism a central issue, and showing him becoming involved with Francie without making the movie into "an issue-driven interracial relationship story".

Reception

Critical response

Duane Byrge of The Hollywood Reporter called the film a "captivating crowd-pleaser" at Sundance and praised that "the performances are richly subdued" and "under filmmaker Sterlin Harjo's firm but whimsical hand, Four Sheets enchants, in large part because of its talented technical team." Zack Haddad of Film Threat described the film as "the Native American Garden State" and stated that it delivers "some wonderfuly oddball comedy while also being a very heart-felt statement." Patrick Z. McGavin of Screen Daily wrote, "Harjo has excellent actors to compensate for his inexperience. […] The movie runs just 85 minutes, and every moment feels lean and properly balanced." Dennis Harvey of Variety opined that the film is "so low-key it risks making little impression", but ultimately wins "viewer sympathy and affection."

Accolades

References

References

1. Anderson, John. (2006-08-27). "This Time, the Indians Tell Their Own Story". [[The New York Times]].
2. (2012). "A Companion to Film Comedy". John Wiley & Sons.
3. (2021-09-08). "Straight Out of Sundance: "Reservation Dogs" Creator Sterlin Harjo on Making His First Feature, "Four Sheets to the Wind"".
4. (2010-11-26). "Camera Q&A: Sterlin Harjo on filming in Oklahoma".
5. Kline, Joshua. (June 3, 2010). "Sterlin Harjo and the Real Indian".
6. "Four Sheets to the Wind".
7. Byrge, Duane. (January 24, 2007). "Four Sheets to the Wind". [[The Hollywood Reporter]].
8. Haddad, Zack. (January 24, 2007). "Four Sheets to the Wind". [[Film Threat]].
9. McGavin, Patrick Z.. (January 28, 2007). "Four Sheets To The Wind". [[Screen Daily]].
10. Harvey, Dennis. (January 30, 2007). "Four Sheets To The Wind". [[Variety (magazine).
11. "32nd American Indian Film Festival".
12. Zekas, Rita. (2008-10-11). "Taming Wild Dogs and reused duds".