Truthahnfieber

I think it is so funny that the small town from which I grew up has its very own DVD. The funny thing is the people are really like that in Vernon. I know Snake and Henry and they are some of the best people you will ever meet. The thing that was very amusing is they only showed talked with people who are kind of "out there" so to speak. But I think the movie is great. It reminds me of all the great times that I had in that town.You cherish times and places in life and Vernon is truly a place thats one of a kind. My parents still live there and own a Farm Supply Store in which they bring in a lot of customers from surrounding areas. Thanks to the producer and his team for making the movie.

This documentary of a Smalltown, USA in rural Florida is a one-of-a-kind true comedy. Morris' choosing of the particular characters recorded and the events chronicled are genius. A quirky preacher who shares with us and his congregation his logic on semantics; a hunter who "specializes" in turkey gobblers; and an elderly man who likes to catch and keep wild critters all add to the deliciously funny charm of this documentary of rural life. His style of letting the characters speak for themselves is truly a work of art in this film. Watching "Vernon, Florida" is the equivalent of reading the "Foxfire" journals with a similar dose of the arcane knowledge that only rural, American, small-town residents possess. Definitely worth watching more than once.

I am grateful to Werner Herzog for convincing Errol Morris to become a filmmaker. "Vernon, Florida" is an intriguing look at the inhabitants of a small town with a beautiful setting in the southern United States. Like most of his films, if not all, Morris remains completely aloof, and instead allows his subjects to speak for themselves. One can easily mock the old, toothless men and the man who just loves "gobblers" (turkeys) but that would be too easy. There is something poignant about the way the people of this small town attempt to express their feelings, as if in many cases, they do not have the vocabulary to articulate their ideas. However, underlying their simple way of life is something that touches humanity. They love their lives and live them day to day without a care in the world. A friend of mine said that these guys are actually a lot smarter than we think because they know something better than probably anyone else around, even if it is cultivating worms. I think perhaps they know a lot more than we think about what it is to be human; they are earnest and humble. I watched this film three times and after each viewing I came to have a deeper appreciation for every one of them. Errol Morris is perhaps the best documentary filmmaker around today and this film was a little treat. A must see for all.

I'm from Marianna, Florida, which is about 20 minutes from Vernon. Take that for what it's worth, but this film reminds me of both why I left and why I sometimes long to return.

Errol Morris finds some of the most beautiful freaks ever committed to film. Any fan of the documentary film medium is doing themselves a disservice by not viewing this film a number of times.

I regard "Vernon, Florida" as up there with what is in my opinion Errol's best work -- "Gates of Heaven", "The Thin Blue Line," and "A Brief History of Time."

"'I like the idea of making films about ostensibly nothing,' Morris told The New Yorker's Mark Singer. 'That's what all my movies are about. That and the idea that we're in a position of certainty, truth, infallible knowledge, when actually we're just a bunch of apes running around.'"

That's what I enjoy about Errol's films -- grabbing hold of just about any bit of chaos in the universe, and being able to find and appreciating the beauty and wonder that it holds.

Vernon, Florida is far and away the most creative documentary i have ever seen. Errol Morris manages to let the people do the talking and doesn't get involved at all, so what you see is what you get, no silly people asking questions or prying for details. where else can you see a preacher do a 10 minute sermon on the word "therefore"? only one place, Vernon,FL. This film is getting more and more difficult to find, if anyone out there knows how I can obtain a copy of this classic, please write me at craiggae@excite.com