American Cowslip

Campus Circle > Film > Movie Reviews Archives FILM: MOVIE REVIEWS American Cowslip (Buffalo Speedway) By Candice Winters

Ronnie Gene Blevins as Ethan Inglebrink ShareThis

It's the age of addiction, and everyone's an addict. The media, politicians and anyone with power treats us that way – like we're a hopeless race of information junkies. We want news fast, answers even faster and if someone makes a mistake, you'd better believe the whole world will know in the time it takes to upload video onto YouTube.

Director and co-writer of American Cowslip, Mark David toys with the idea that the quirks in life are fueled and maintained simply by the addiction that has become America's disease.

In a small town in the remote California desert, Ethan Inglebrink (Ronnie Gene Blevins) is an agoraphobic heroin addict who is obsessed with his garden. The few enjoyments Ethan has in life are his poker nights with his elderly neighbors (Cloris Leachman, Diane Ladd, Priscilla Barnes) whom he has convinced that he has diabetes in order to explain his frequent use of syringes.

Ethan's plan to evade eviction for another month is to win the $10,000 first prize in the "Garden of the Year" contest. The druggie is particularly interested in perfecting his "American cowslip," a beautiful rare flower that will be the centerpiece of his garden.

This dark comedy follows the last days of Ethan's life as he struggles to find purpose at a time when it might be too late to even matter. Spiraling down a dark and messy hole of drugs, self-loathing and insanity, Ethan finds true love in Georgia (Hanna Hall), his beautiful 17-year-old neighbor who wants to leave the small town to evade her abusive father (Bruce Dern).

Without spoiling the end, Ethan pays for his self-indulgent lifestyle, though it is the entire neighborhood block that comes to realize that everyone is an "Ethan," because passion is at the root of human nature.

American Cowslip is a comedy that makes subtle jabs at the absurdity of the current "normal" American lifestyle. This film is reminiscent of 2000's Requiem for a Dream, though in many ways it also parodies this and other films directed toward making a statement about America's drug pastime.

In fact, this film is so absurd, you can't help but laugh as Ethan convinces his old lady friend to score him some heroin under the guise that it's insulin. And when it comes down to it, even death is a silly coincidence.

Grade: B

Just as it's name implies, this movie grew on me. It certainly left me with a feeling to see it again to make sure I had connected all the metaphoric dots creatively laid out for me.

The film weaves and knots a moral tale implying that we are all not only enablers but addicts to something, whether it be drugs, past glory, love, control or freedom. The characters' cracked facades only temporarily protect them from the dangers outside their front door and inside themselves. While leaning on each other, none of the characters ever obtain the help they help they need to "kick the habit" and it is their eventual undoing. It is a sad tale in which everyone looses something, unable to break out of the sweet sickness enabling their self-victimization.

While slow and repetitive at times, the characterizations are humanely broad enough that we see a little of ourselves in each one. The lighting of the film in golden and sunny overtones, the over-the-top silly humor at times, the fair-like set sweetens the bitter lesson this moralistic tale pours for us to swallow. Just as there is no such thing as an American Cowslip, there is no such thing as just an addict out of control.

What a superb contribution to modern American film! I must admit that at first I was scared American Cowslip would fall into the dreary and desiccated trap that plagues some independent films; however, within the first 10 minutes I was overjoyed by the amount of vivaciousness and wit that flowed from the screen.

Co-writers Mark David and Ronnie Blevins are an inspirational team, and although he is surrounded by an award winning cast, Blevins holds his own in the spotlight. His character, Ethan, is eccentric yet lovable and he is harmoniously paired with his love interest Hanna Hall.

To me the movie is nothing less than 113 minutes of life, love, laughter, and addiction - without a single minute wasted!

One of the worst movies I've seen. All the characters are one-dimensional, the dialog is insipid, and the characters' motivations make no sense at all. The protagonist is an unemployed, agoraphobic junky, who doesn't pay his rent and doesn't think of anybody but himself. He's disgusting, revolting and selfish. He has not a single redeeming quality, yet everyone loves him. Even his landlord, to which he owes several months rent, says that he really likes him. They don't even mind the fact that he goes weeks without bathing. But what's beyond even those absurdities is the cute teenage girl across the street, who is half his age and is madly in love with him. Yeah, this could happen - in a bizarro universe! I didn't laugh once. All the jokes were juvenile, insipid or lame. It was painful to sit through this. I felt embarrassed for the filmmakers. For example, they put trendy, titillating vulgarities like "corn rocket" and "donkey punch" in the mouths of 70 and 80 year-olds. This concept was beaten like a dead horse at least 15 years ago. And now, it's just sad. Every characters' actions are so implausible that the story falls apart because what they're doing is so completely out of character and nonsensical. It's as if a group of 10 year-olds got together and brainstormed for a story - and then threw in some requisite adult swearing. Who is the target audience? It's clearly written for the 10 year-old mind, so why did they make it an R rated movie? Don't waste your time with this trash.

this is a perfect example of producers, writers, and director getting together and deciding to purposefully make a quirky crazy movie, with oddball goofy but lovable characters living in an exaggerated hyper color story book setting and fill the movie with some big Hollywood names! it doesn't work!

the plot line never gets beyond the stunted growth of Ethan's failed and sabotaged attempt to grow an American cowslip flower. none of the neighbors are remotely humorous or funny. Ethan is just so one dimensional the viewer looses interest in his erratic drug addicted reclusive life. and the women on the street all love him and for what reason we don't really know outside of the poker games. and the sudden jack and the beanstalk growth of the cowslip is just silly!

even goofy nonsense movies have to make sense somewhere in the story! this story is just a bunch of ideas thrown together to try to make an instant cult favorite. all it made was an instant failure.

skip it!