Super Sucker

Being a fellow Michigander (with Jeff Daniels), I can see part of where this movie came from. It's a satirical look at Midwestern family values and sexual mores (like Daniels' other, more well-known, and overall better "Pleasantville"). Unlike "Pleasantville," where the attacks on sexual puritanism are subtle enough for some casual viewers to miss, "Super Sucker" is blatant.

The premise: A down-and-out vacuum cleaner distributor (Daniels) in a moderate-sized Midwest town (based on and shot in Jackson, Michigan) has been given 30 days to outsell his overbearing and obnoxious competitor. Whoever sells the most systems gets sole rights to distributorship. Daniels seems destined to lose -- the competition has much more advertising money, and is willing to throw any rules of fairness out the window -- until he discovers a special use for a long-discontinued attachment. He puts the attachment into rapid production, and offers it as a "special bonus" that only his distributorship has available. His fate changes radically, buildi ng up to a raucous farce of a climax.

The buildup is, in my opinion, slow, and bits are ham-fistedly predictable; the "cat" scene belonged in a Farrelly Brothers movie (and that's not a compliment), but it was thankfully brief. But once it gets going (around the midpoint), and writer/director Daniels decides that whatever real world logic he had been attempting to follow should be thrown out the window in favor of over-the-top absurdity, it has some truly comedic scenes. In a time when Michigan's sexual more pendulum appears to be swinging back to the left, the film is a nice push in the right direction. And, sociosexual politics aside, it's a darn fine piece of unpretentious independent comedy -- something we can never have enough of.

TV buffs will likely enjoy a cameo from Gilligan Island's Dawn Wells, making fun of her own stereotyping as Mary Ann.

Purple Rose fans will note that, except for bits of body-humor comedy and Daniels' affably hapless good guy (a persona he started with "Something Wild"), this is a much different film than Escanaba in Da Moonlight (also a good movie, although I enjoyed the play more). Like "Pleasantville," it has more national appeal ("Escanaba" was rife with Michigan in-jokes), and despite some of its stageplay-like shots, it's obviously based on a screenplay, with many more scenes and a much larger cast. I hope Purple Rose works out its own kinks in distributorship (leaving me wondering if Daniels' frustration here didn't contribute to "Super Sucker"'s premise), because these films deserve a larger audience than they seem to be getting.

In the vein of Kingpin, Office Space and Airplane. Super Sucker isn't as funny as any of those movies but, considering it's budget, is still pretty impressive. Fans of "dumb" comedies will probably like, not love, this move.

That would be a very good compliment in the Super Sucker world created by Jeff Daniels. This movie is F-U-N-N-Y and hopefully will be viewed by people other than just the cities of Jackson and Ann Arbor Michigan. I attended the second showing of the movie in Jackson on February 23rd 2002 hosted by Jeff Daniels.

In a nutshell the movie is about two rival Super Sucker distributers in the same city (Johnson City) competing for total sales rights for that city. The result, a competition. Whichever distributer sells the most Super Suckers in a month wins, and the other bows out. Fred Barlows team (Daniels) isn't doing so hot because the competition has a bit more money an resources. With a new member on the team and doing poorer than ever, Barlow begins offering a "drapery attachment" with every purchase on a Super Sucker. I don't wanna give away what the attachment does for "lonely housewives" but there's quite a bit of sexual inuendo in the film, a lot actually. Needless to say this proves to be a very smart move for the Barlow team but as usual, things start to "suck" and the plot thickens.

All in all I think this movie will appeal to a much wider audience than Escanaba in da moonlight ever did, or will, and will hopefully find a spot right up with your big hollywood summer comedies.

There was quite a lack of verbal profanity, but many sexual references which earned this movie an R rating. It was kinda slow in the very beginning with a chuckle here and there, but when the "Homemakers Little Helper" (drapery attachment) hits the masses of Johnson City, it really starts to get good. There were so many moment comparable to "There's Something About Mary", Meet The Parents", and "Dumb And Dumber" that this independent movie will just HAVE to get pick up by someone and ready for a full theatrical release. The writing is good, the plot was good, everything was very good for it being an independent movie, but don't let that fact that it's not a big time hollywood release scare you, it's very much equal to your big summer releases and I hope to see it again.

On a side note, this movie was kida special for me because my girlfriends mom had a small part as an extra in the fil as Housewife #4. During the scene where the salemen are trying to pitch the Homemakers Little helper door-to-door, Denise Weber was the first of the housewives to actually "use" the attachment excluding Fred Barlows wive in the beginning of the movie. I certainly hope all of you get to enjoy this film very soon.

Tony

Reading some of the other post here and I think there are too many prudes on here lol

You can NOT take this movie seriously, it's just a dumb comedy and it is Funny!

This movie is a strange combination of the 1950's, 1970's and today. Its like "Leave it to Beaver" meets a soft porn movie ..lol

The laughs really begin when "Mothers little helper" is introduced in the movie :)

Jeff Daniels is hilarious!

I loved it and got a kick out of it!

I just saw the Super Sucker world premiere in Ann Arbor, Michigan (where Jeff Daniels grew up and now runs Purple Rose Films) and it is absolutely hilarious. Sidestepping all the toilet-level humor and midwestern-centric culture which made Escanaba in da Moonlight a less-than-perfect success, Super Sucker is a sharp comedy for the American everyman. Daniels stars as Fred Barlow, a vacuum salesman with an life-long passion for his trade. When Johnsonville, Michigan proves not big enough for both Barlow and his arch rival salesman (Harve Presnell), their boss creates a contest in which the man with the most sales wins exclusive rights to the city. Barlow is out of luck until he discovers a drapery attachment that pleases housewives in more ways than one. But will the "American Association for the Abuse of Household Appliances" approve? And will Barlow's rival let such a gimmick steal his loyal customers? The plot twists, turns and tickles brilliantly. I must say, for an independent film, this is one marvelously professional production which easily outdoes most contemporary Hollywood comedies. Direction, cinematography, sound, editing and writing are all top notch. Not to mention the cast, a classic lineup of wacky salesmen, chock-full with comedic talent. You get to love them all. Matt Letscher especially shines as Daniels's eager and naive sales apprentice. Above everything, let's not forget Mr. Daniels. I'd go so far as to say that this film is his crowning achievement on many levels. Not only has he crafted one of his funniest roles and films ever, he's finally starred in a comedy that you're not ashamed to admit liking. I interviewed Daniels for Ann Arbor's CURRENT magazine a few weeks before the premiere and he said that if there's one thing he knows how to do, it's to make people laugh. The proof is in the pudding. You won't need a drapery attachment to get absolute pleasure from Super Sucker.