Pickin' & Grinnin'

I saw this little GEM of a movie on a rainy night in Los Angeles, at the Hollywood Film Festival. A friend of mine had an extra ticket, so I figured, "what could it hurt?" If the movie was terrible, I could always hit the bar at the Arclight.

Fortunately for my liver, there was no hitting the bar, as this movie delivered something that Hollywood rarely provides anymore - originality. After sitting through an almost comically long opening credit sequence (and not funny in a good way), I found myself immediately taken in by the film's two lead characters - Milo and Johnny Jake Johnson. If ever the term "loveable Loser" fit, it would be with these two guys.

I'm not going to write a synopsis of the film, as I'm not a film reviewer and I will leave that to the professionals. I will take a moment to write that director Jon Gries (Uncle Rico in Napolean Dynamite) is fighting the good fight, by bringing an old school road comedy like this to the big screen. Kudos to you Mr. Gries for rolling up your sleeves and making a film that the studios would never touch!

There are so many consistently funny moments and just a great ensemble performance, with several of my favorite character actors sprinkled throughout. I'm not sure how Gries and the producers got some of these well traveled character actors (Geoffrey Lewis and Garrett Morris to name a couple), but I was really won over by the heart of this movie.

Great direction, story, music and performances make up this indie sleeper. One of the better experiences I've had at the movies in a long, long time...and not just because it was free.

When amateur country plucker Milo, played by Garret Mathany, accidentally runs over a desert rabbit and a chicken (don't worry, they're hilariously fake), he decides his touring days are over. As if vehicular poultrycide isn't bad enough, he comes home to learn that his girlfriend has dumped him, and suddenly he realizes that his entire family was, is, and always shall be doomed to failure. Offset by his absurdly optimistic brother Johnny Jake, played by Johnny Dowers, what follows is a bizarre and very entertaining road movie with some of the oddest characters since Peewee's Big Adventure.

And I'll let you in on a little secret. Among the bizarre characters are the great Billy Gibbons (guitarist for ZZ Top, if you don't recognize his face you're sure to recognize his beard & "cheap sunglasses") and Mr. Footloose himself Kenny Loggins who appears as a weird hallucination in Milo's delusional fantasies.

As Milo and his brother Johnny Jake travel across the country in their Winnebago playing lame gigs to earn gas money, they pick up the oddest passengers and stumble into the oddest situations which I won't even try to explain.

The story is a lot of fun, and believe it or not there's a nice message to it which materializes at the end when Johnny Jake delivers his big monologue. I'm a big fan of underdog stories especially when they present an interesting new spin, and "Pickin & Grinnin" definitely does that. The music is even pretty good, even if you're not a fan of country/folk. The actors wrote and played the music themselves, and there's some mean mandolin playing by Two-Pint (played by David E. Lane).

If you like funny road movies and comedies about musicians, be sure to check out this flick. Also worth checking out are "Thunderstruck" (2004) about a bunch of aging AC/DC fans who attempt to travel across Australia to bury their buddy next to Bon Scott, and "Grand Theft Parsons" (2003) the supposedly true and definitely funny story about two guys who steal the body of singer Gram Parsons and drive him all through the desert.

And it goes without saying that you must see the Christopher Guest classics: "This Is Spinal Tap" (funniest heavy metal movie ever) and "A Mighty Wind" (funniest folk music movie ever).

"Pickin' & Grinnin'" is a road picture, reminiscent of Hope/Crosby, filled with spacious southwestern vistas, two brother's putting the pedal to the medal-comically and vocally-and a kick ass soundtrack. This film brings together great writing from Garret Mathany and Johnny Dowers, (lead characters, Milo and Johnny Jake Johnson) along with the musical chops of David E. Lane (Two Pint) and director, Jon Gries. W. Earl Brown ("Deadwood") provides great comedic timing as Parson and Frances Bay steals every scene she's in. "P&G" left me smiling for days and reciting lines ("I'm gonna say this in a loving way..."), I hope become part of film history.

I was so excited to see this film in Austin at AFF. I was also very thrilled to see a banjo in a movie at the same time as a Winnebego. Thanks for reminding me that Real American music can intersect with Real American Filmmaking in the road-trip genre. I sure hope that Jon Gries gets to direct more films. The cast was really cool at the Q&A. There were some technical problems with the theater but by the second screening the great AFF people had brought in a new projector and you guys were real gentlemen and answered every question. Thanks as well for signing a poster for my daughter who's new idea for summer vacation is an RV ride down Route 66. You guys stuck the dismount for a perfect 10 !!! Where and when can I get the soundtrack. Please post on the FB or website when it is available.

I wanted to adopt the Johnson brothers by the time this movie ended. The main characters were well meaning misfits you have to love and the villains were the bullies you've always hated. The clever cameos make you feel like you are part of the "inside joke" especially the campy devotion to Kenny Loggins. Although this story has been told a million times, the acting, direction, hilarious original score and production nuances made this one of the most entertaining movies I've seen in awhile. Kudos, to all involved and can't wait to see this again. Can't wait for it's release and I'm dying to purchase the soundtrack, the lyrics still make me giggle.