Poor White Trash

Just flipping through the channels when I happened upon this gem on Comedy Central.

Review above is seemingly 100% accurate as far as the hilarity of the acting and cinematography. The only thing missing from his review is a history of having spent 4 years going to the university at Carbondale, (SALUKIIIIIIIIIs).

Best line -- just right now -- "ya ain't gonna live in a trailer -- yer gonna live in a dorm !!"

Curses, I have to go to work!!

Anyway -- if you love purposefully bad films -- and if you love Southern Illinois trash !!! wooooh!! I can hardly contain myself -- this film seems to be the hot ticket!

This movie was shot almost entirely in Franklin County, Illinois. When the crew came to town they told authorities their working title was Good Morning Sunrise. The locals anxiously cooperated in the production, including use of police uniforms and equipment to use of the Courthouse at night for filming courtroom scenes. (Although the Franklin County Courthouse in Benton was used for interior shots, exteriors were taken in front of the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro. Many local officials auditioned for bit parts, and I was personally disappointed that a local police chief that had a noticeable stutter wasn't cast. When the movie came out with it's title Poor White Trash, the locals were infuriated and the film was blasted in the local papers. A side note- Mr. Snack's is an actual restaurant which was closed at the time of the film. It has since reopened and still stands on Route 14 in Christopher, Illinois. And one of our county judges proudly displays an autographed photo of M. Emmett Walsh.

With a name like Poor White Trash, this movie easily could have been mistaken as a low-grade comedy with stereotype characters telling stupid jokes. Instead, it develops characters as real people, with few cliches. Yes, there is a trailer park and trailer trash, but that is the real world, and real people live there. The writers do not make fun of their character's living condition, but rather use it to help understand them. The young men live in a world where stealing cheap beer and chasing cheap girls pass for culture, and they understandably want out. You're rooting for them, especially when things start to go wrong. Oh, and it's funny, and even poignant. Jaime Presley is beautiful and Sean Young is sharp and witty. To her credit, she's not afraid to play a woman her age, and she does so with dignity and grace. Buy the DVD and impress your friends with it in a few years when the young cast become major stars.

I was interested to see this movie, because I grew up in Southern Illinois and ran around in Benton as a teenager. Yes, I was a Carbondale Saluki and I believe I know some of the people Mr. Urba and Addis based their characters on. The scary part of the movie is (even if other didn't like the acting of the cast) that really is how most of the people in the local area act. Here's some trivia, local people were mad because the title of the movie was changed from something nice to something degrading, accurate, but degrading. I am also wondering about how Mr. Addis got so many good actors to be in a low budget, bad movie. I know the film has no A-list stars, but I wasn't aware that the actors in it were so disparate for work. Even a Malkovich was involved in the production. Luckily, the only good thing about this movie was seeing Jamie Pressly in the same frame as the old stomping grounds and the fact I don't live there anymore. Stay down and dirty, Slugdriveruh1

As a Southern Illinois native myself, I can say without a doubt this movie only scratches the surface of Southern Illinois people. So.Il. does have it's share of "rednecks" but that is not the majority. It's interesting to read the claims of accurate representation of former SIU students from the north. Much of SIU's enrollment come from northern Illinois residents who flock to the college for it's money saving advantages. So really most social interactions are northerner to northerner. To be labeled something by people because of geographical location is a bit narrow minded and absurd. That being said I enjoyed the movie and thought it was rather entertaining. It was funny and the cast was an interesting mix but they all worked really well together. My favorite part was the beer can lawn art!