Hey, everyone. "Moriarty" here with some Rumblings From The Lab.
This opens in some places on Friday? Why haven’t I heard of this already? And why do I get a green and leafy vibe off this review?
Harry,
(Insert standard comment about longtime reader, first-time contributor, etc.)
This past Monday, I was privileged to see an advance screening of a comedy which might just come in under the radar, Jeff Daniels' new film, "Super Sucker". A friend managed to get my wife and myself into the film, which was prefaced by a short appearance by the man himself, Jeff Daniels.
"Super Sucker" comes from the same team responsible for "Escanaba in Da Moonlight". Daniels wrote, directed, and stars in this film, which was entirely filmed in Michigan, using a crew which consisted 90% of Michigan talent, with the other 10% coming from Chicago, so this was really a homegrown film for Michigan resident Daniels. He answered a few questions before having to head off for a showing in another city. The film unfortunately missed the cut for Sundance, but it did win the audience award for best feature at the US Comedy Arts Festival. Daniels was very proud of the fact that the film is very much a product of the midwest. He did shop it around to Hollywood distributors, but he ultimately decided to handle the distribution end himself to make sure that it got theatrical screenings in the midwestern states rather than just showing up on a few screens in LA and New York. The film will initially be opening on Friday, January 24 on screens in the northern midwestern states, the success of which will determine how much wider the distribution will go. He did state that, if the film does well enough, he'll likely do yet another film out of the midwest.
After the brief Q&A, he departed and the movie started. Briefly, "Super Sucker" is the story of vacuum cleaner salesman Fred Barlow. He owns one of two competing distributorships of Super Sucker vacuum cleaners in Johnson City. Times are getting difficult for door-to-door vacuum cleaner sales, though. Several competing manufacturors have gone out of business and the president of Super Sucker has decided that Johnson City only needs one distributor for their vacuums. Initially inclined to give the contract to Fred's competitor Winslow Schnaebelt (Harve Presnell), he has a change of heart and decides to give Fred a chance to compete for it. Whichever distributor sells more vacuums in the space of a month will get the contract. What follows is a sales battle of epic proportions as Fred, the true believer in the value of the Super Sucker, tries to outsell expert capitalist Winslow. As he starts to lag behind, though, Fred comes up with an unconventional new way to promote the Super Sucker. To avoid spoiling the film, I will not let on what it is, but the scene that inspires it is one of the funniest you will see in any comedy this year.
I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Jeff Daniels has crafted a comedy that is intelligent, well-acted, and laugh-out-loud funny. I was practically laughing non-stop from beginning to end, whereas a lot of the so-called "comedies" coming out of major Hollywood studios these days have to work to get even a handful of chuckles from me. Daniels writes characters who have skewed ideas of what's important, yet without turning them into caricatures or letting them go over the top. His cast helps him out greatly with this, each and every one putting their all into their roles, showing their characters getting into some very bizarre situations, but keeping them just grounded enough so the audience can relate to them. Make no mistake about it, despite the fact that the cast are virtual unknowns, Daniels does not have to carry the film. His supporting cast is talented and able to rise to the occasion. The cast, script, direction, cinematography, all combined to make this the funniest and funnest movie I've seen in a long time.
The thing that really stuck out in my mind, though, was how polished the film looks. Every aspect of the film is as good as or better than what you see coming out of the major Hollywood studios. It's the type of movie a lot of studios are afraid of, because it proves that you don't need a Jim Carrey and a $100 million dollar budget to make a quality film. Jeff Daniels did it on his own with a small budget and no-name cast and produced a comedy funnier than the last three Jim Carrey films combined. Afterwards, the rep indicated that some people who left first were a little offended by certain aspects of the film, but most people in the theater really were getting into it.
As I said, it opens this Friday and I would strongly encourage all your readers who live in an area where it's showing to go out and see it. It's a hilarious film and seeing it now will not only help it to eventually reach a wider audience, it'll help continue the trend of making films outside the Hollywood system.
If you use any of this, you can credit me as "Arnold Rimmer".
Thanks, Mr. Dani... I mean, “Arnold.”
"Moriarty" out.
