The Corndog Man

I just watched this gem on video and I immediately recognized the source of the story. About seven years ago I heard some crank call tapes that were circulating here in Florida. These calls victimized a southern car salesman and were made by some college students doing "cracker" type accents. The calls started out semi-legit but degenerate into total harassment just like the "Red" or "Tube Bar Bastard" calls. This film is worlds better than the "Red" movie because the director along with two other writers actually synthesize a feature length story(a little cliched- but good) around the premise and create a HILARIOUS movie. Noble Winningham really shines in this film and I give it TEN THUMBS UP, YOU WILL PISS IN YOUR PANTS FROM LAUGHING.(especially if you've heard those tapes)

The first several minutes of this film we do not see anyone's face. It seems that we are not supposed to feel connected with the characters just yet. And we never see the antagonist's face, save for a few sunglasses close-ups. And that works for the film. Ace, the man being harassed, is a sad sack with no friends or family and it's quite depressing. The whole phone-call thing is interesting at first, but the film could have been about 20 minutes shorter. It gets old. Ace seems to be a bigot mostly due to the atmosphere he was brought up in, and peer pressure. Why he is seen as an all-out bigot in 1997 is a mystery to me, and I still don't get the whole black drag-queen thing. The film is worth a look, if you enjoy human storytelling and smalltown locales, which I do. It was well-directed with a lot of nifty camera shots. I will be interested in seeing Andrew Shea's other dir

At a loss for anything decent at the video store I took a chance on Corndog Man. I'm really glad I did. This is an intriguing film that has you wondering who the antagonist is and what his motivation is throughout the film. There are moments of very good comedy and moments of very good yet tasteful social commentary about racism and how it heats up when biased people regress to their simpler emotions under stress. Mostly though, I found it an enjoyable mystery and character study that is well paced and well-developed. Definitely worth a look.

I read through most of the reviews here, and unless I missed it, did anyone get that triple K is KKK, for Ku Klux Klan? Maybe it was so obvious that no one bothered mentioning it.. Maybe not. Well, my brother forced this video on me a while back, and I must admit I enjoyed it, mainly for its originality and mean spirited sense of humor. Like someone else mentioned, its a breath of fresh air from all of the huge budgeted, over-produced CGI-fests that Hollywood keeps pooping out! For those of you who didn't like it, don't worry. I'm sure there's a new Ben Stiller "comedy" coming out soon. The only reason I didn't give it a ten is that it does strain your patience a bit.

Aronofsky didn't make this film. However, it may be little more than the dialect that separates this uniquely disturbing bent of storytelling from his. As a third generation piece of poor white trash, I can vouch for the language. Dead on, trust me. And as a native Southerner, I must sadly confirm that in certain rural pockets, this brand of racist garbage still exists. But the ultimate fate, and apparent past, of the protagonist of this film proved strange enough to wreck my sleep for at least three nights. To say that I liked this film would be amiss. A-way-the-hell-miss, in fact. But the storytelling is taut and cerebral. And it's cinematic impact is pretty powerful. Next time you feel like you're going to scream at another Meg Ryan romantic comedy or another Bruce Willis explosion movie, try this one on for size.