Pickin' & Grinnin'

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).

Funny adventurous movie that takes you on a ride with interesting characters and a few surprise celebrities and cameos,it has a good soundtrack,must see this film.

The characters are likable beer drinking red neck types many can relate to but they are original.

Lots of eye candy especially the blonde in the bikini in the beginning scenes.

I would go see this movie a second time.

You will see why its done well on the independent film showings after watching it.

Cant wait for the sequel to see what happens next!

I was one of the lucky ones that got to see Pickin' & Grinnin' at the Lone Star Film Festival this past weekend. I was a little disappointed that Jon Gries wasn't in attendance, as 'Real Genius' is one of my favorite films, but my disappointment didn't last long, as this movie is laugh out loud funny.

Like Cheech & Chong meets Napolean Dynamite with guitars, the Johnson brothers are used to the "family heirloom of failure". After Milo gets his heart broken by his girlfriend, he goes into a deep, trance like depression. Milo's brother, Johnny Jake Johnson - sees this an opportunity to take to the road in, "Gomer" the family Winnebago, in hopes of traveling cross country to Nashville, with dreams of winning the "Sing-A-Ling" championship.

I'll be the first to say that the road movie genre is well traveled territory, but when a movie has characters that are this interesting, and a story that zigs when you think it will zag, you get Pickin' & Grinnin'.

This must be how people felt like when they saw Napolean Dynamite before it hit theaters. I feel like I just saw a great band that hasn't hit the radio yet. Can't wait to see it again!

I seriously can't wait for this on DVD. I laughed so hard the people in front of me in the theater moved rows away. The entire cast is just amazing. The story is a true testament to slack jawed yokels everywhere. When directors and producers have a vision as true to life,as pathetic as it may be, only good can come from it. Cheers, no jeers.

Great music, phenomenal story and script. I seriously love this cast. I can only pray to Uncle Rico that he uses Johnny and Garret in a Smokey and the Bandit remake....I will die happy if this happens. MUST SEE Pickin' and 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.