The Godfather of Green Bay

Are you a bitter out of work filmmaker or something? Granted, this movie was not quite as good as people on IMDb.com suggest, but you make it sound like its completely pointless - it's not.

Pete Shawba is a first time director and this story has been stated as being autobiographical. The film was in fact shot in Marinette, Wisconsin for less than a million dollars, and as a filmmaker, I thought many things were impressive, not extraordinary, not bad.

One of the things you have to consider when you make a low budget movie is that you will have many unknown or first time actors appearing in the movie either underperforming, overperforming, or surprise you and hit it right on. The Godfather of Green Bay did that.

The biases you're referring to are people from Marinette who recognized many of the locations (I'm from Marinette as well but I try to remain on neutral ground.) There were some things that I did not like: the overuse of the Macarena, the emphasis of stereotypes and the overall low budget feel when the bartender announces that Rocktoberfest has begun- it seems as if this event only takes place in a small bar, where a field full of campers, stages, and drunk Wisconsinites would be more appropriate. Instead we get the later, which if you're like me (An indie filmmaker), the lack of depth is forgivable.

As for Lauren Holly and other name actors appearing in the film, they all performed well and kudos for appearing in a film that obvious isn't mainstream and paying for a second home in Hollywood.

Last word: This movie, for the first time in movie history, shows Northeastern Wisconsin in bloom of fall, capturing the beauty of the tree along the highways near Marinette. I was please to recognize many locations (Mickey Lu's and Trade Winds in Marinette, the playground on the Menominee, MI Marina with the library in the background. I loved seeing Wisconsin on film and I was pleased to see that someone other than myself has made a movie in Marinette.

5 out of 10.

Non-stop laughs throughout this Sideways meets Fargo type buddy movie. Its filled with original, colorful characters that you end up loving by the end. The main character is full of quick lines, but really plays the straight man to a dine and dash buddy who pulls him back to his hometown in a backdoor attempt to get on the Tonight Show. The characters in the town of Pine Lake really make the film. Dug, played by Thomas Lennon, steals every scene he is in. Ratboy, is the funniest character of all with his brilliant facial expressions and love of hunting. The Godfather's creepy but ridiculous fascination with the Macarena will make you bust out laughing. You begin to see the whole town the way the main character does, at first skeptical and weird and by the end laughing at everything. This movie is guaranteed to make you laugh.

Interesting Idea, Poorly Executed.

Here are the positives I can say about this movie. - The idea of a comic going to a bar in a small town in Wisconsin to catch his big break is a pretty cool and an interesting idea. - The background and secondary characters are good. It has a very good small town atmosphere. And it does capture the spirit of the region

Other than those two this movie is pretty bad. Poorly written, poorly shot, bad lighting throughout even for a low budget feature.

The problem I had with it was that you have two movies going on at the same time and they have absolutely nothing to do with each other. You have one story which is this sort of sideways-ish story about a comic trying to rediscover his love of his work and a second story which is this cartoonish sidebar about a Green Bay Drug-lord.

These two stories have nothing to do with each other and any contact between the two stories is completely coincidental. The Drug Lord and the Comic actually probably only share about 3-5 minutes of screen time together in the entire film.

Then there are Montages that go too long, scenes that stretch way too long, a lot of unnecessary scenes. The actual guts of the film should really only produce about an hour long film. The rest is just padding, in particular the Macarena scenes of which there are too many and they are too long.

It's just weird that you have a movie called "The Godfather of Green Bay" where the character that the movie is named after could have been completely cut from the film and you would have not lost a thing. It could have become one of the secondary characters and fallen to the background without a problem. And as a result there could have been more character development and time for the main story which is really the more interesting story.

I saw this movie at the Wisconsin Film Festival in Madison on April 1 and it was great!- no April Fools. The movie does a great job poking fun at the way of life of people from Northern Wisconsin. The laughs are constant and not the same jokes and situations seen in every Hollywood comedy. The music was written by the BoDeans, a Wisconsin group, famous for the the lead song from the "Party of Five" television show. (Song's name was Closer to Free). From it's Packers/Bears jokes to referencing the "Macarena", this movie kept you laughing. The movie stars Pete Schwaba ( A Guy Thing) who wrote the story, Lauren Holly (Dumb and Dumber) who plays his love interest, Thomas Lennon (Reno 911) as local comedian, and Tony Goldwyn (Ghost) as the Godfather himself. The movie also includes Mark Borchardt, a successful independent movie maker (American Movie) who plays a local dj.

I just saw the premiere of this movie in my hometown of Marinette, Wisconsin where the movie was filmed. The movie did a wonderful job of depicting the people, the scenery, and the whole Wisconsin vibe. The characters in this movie were well acted, including lead roles by Pete Schwaba and Lance Barber. Audiences will truly appreciate Big Jake and Rat Boy, because everyone knows someone like these two characters. My favorite character in the film was played by Thomas Lennon (Reno 911, The State), every time he was on screen he brought a giggle or smile to my face, great casting here.

This movie should be enjoyed by all. It offers a nice escape and a peek inside small town life through the eyes of some big city guys.

Excellent cast, great laughs, and an all around good time!