Candy Mountain

Moody? yes. Slow? a little. Bow Wow? hardly. Fantastic cast! Who says you can't have a fun movie about a total idiot? Julius is the straight man to life's maddening trickster. Definitely worthwhile for fans of Jarmusch style movie making. Personally I loved it...anyone who's gone after something without knowing quite where will get this. Check out Cold Fever, a similar, but more grown up film about a Japanese tourist in Greenland.

I've seen a few no-budget films before, but "Candy Mountain" really takes the cake. It feels like it was filmed on weekends and vacations with friends and relatives, and no one was paid anything. That might not be entirely true, but it's the impression I got. I watched the movie for Tom Waits, who doesn't have a big part, but is entertaining. Kevin J. O'Connor is good as Julius. All the various cameos are amusing, surely more so if you have a personal familiarity with the actors/musicians. It's a distinctly Canadian story, even though it hints at originating in the states.

The director, Robert Frank, leaves one with the distinct impression that he doesn't know how to make a compelling movie. It's well-intentioned enough, but lethargic as hell. When Julius wakes up to drag himself through another long day, you start to feel about the same as the viewer. If the photography was better, or maybe the silences had more depth and power, it wouldn't seem so sloppy. The pace is maddeningly slow. I got... a bit out of it, I guess. But it's really just not that great. At best, it convinces you that it's real. As for anything beyond that, well, never mind.

Although filled with some dead air, and the plot just drags on, Candy Mountain can be seen as a mid '80's curio filled with New Wave 80's rock stars (Buster Poindexter! Tom Waits!) and curious cameos (Rita Mcneill???). After being tempted by musical bigshot Poindexter, a struggling musician, (played by Kevin O'Connor, looking all the world like Billie Joe Armstrong) agrees to find a long-thought-dead musician. Off on the road he goes, meeting some wacky people along the way! The acting here is OK, with some on the histronics side. But O'Connor seems to keep things on an even keel. But the problem is, the movie goes on FAR too long, and one senses that even O'Connor was getting tired of the whole thing. Worth a look if you could find it for the curio factor though.

You would think that a movie with Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and David Johannsen is going to be one of the best films you've ever seen, right? God, how I looked forward to this. When I finally got to see it, it was like I got kicked in the guts.

Boring, moody, contrived, over stylized, and PRETENTIOUS. The main character is a total dick! There's nothing nice or cool here. It made me want to brush my teeth! Why Leon Redbone, Tom Waits, Dr. John, and David Johannsen allowed themselves to appear in this dog is beyond me.

You know what? Go buy the Johnny Winter album "Third Degree." There are some cool duets between Johnny and Dr. John. If you're a fan of the genre you'll love it, I promise. If you love that album you'll hate this movie.

I liked it so much I actually bought the video and still watch it occasionally. The wonderful cameos make the whole thing worthwhile. Dr John is a riot and I especially love the scene with Robert Blossoms and Leon Redbone where they lock the main character up in jail. Robert Blossoms "you mean he interrupted the flow of money???!!" Then they sing. Leon Redbone is always amazing. I never heard of Blossoms but he was great. Hilarious, but great. And Tom Waits can't help but be interesting. That amazing woman singer, too. Holy cow. I could listen to her over and over. I watch this movie while skipping forward to the good parts. There's a lot of dead weight, but ignore that.