Iowa

Well, I don't think the picture is as bad as most of the reviews make it out to be. . . but there's no denying that it's got problems.

Mostly, the problems are in the script. There's a plot - but not much story, and certainly not one that anybody could call plausible; it trots out any number of self-consciously strange and/or stereotypical characters, lines, moments, what-have-you and, by the end, it just hasn't added up to much in this department.

Sorry, but I couldn't care less about whatever "social ill" Farnsworth might be trying to address; there will always be a sector of the population willing to do just about anything to shred their brains, even if it requires running around corn fields trying to steal ammonia, or whatever it is those morons do. So, as a film, you won't find me calling "Iowa" "important." But, at a stylistic level, the picture is more than interesting and some of Farnsworth's choices in depicting a meth-head's wigged-out state are beautiful, hilarious, disturbing and - yes, I'm going to say it - inspired.

The acting is uneven, but that just may be a casualty of the afore-praised stylistic reaching. Look, Rosanna Arquette is a fine actress - but she's not very good here, so a discriminating audience member does have to ask, "What happened?" It's weird that Diane Foster manages a simplicity and grace that so few of the other actors can come anywhere near. For example, I might seriously consider whatever explanation Farnsworth could provide for Michael T. Weiss's over-the-top turn as a probation officer, but I doubt I'd ever buy it; It Just Doesn't Work.

Then again, it's the most alive and in the moment that I've seen John Savage appear in years. So go figure.

This is the sort of work that tantalizes, but does not promise - and that's okay; neither Farnsworth nor anyone else is required to make movies. So, whether or not Farnsworth has another film in him remains to be seen, but if he does, it seems pretty likely that it won't be bland pap. In an age when people are planning their lives around the latest installment of "American Idol," perhaps we could allow, not scorn, Farnsworth's legitimate and undeniably flawed film.

What is more, perhaps we could welcome, not berate, his energetic and sometimes blessedly idiosyncratic imagination.

Michael T. WIESS has doggy style sex with Rosanna ARQUETTE. Michael WIESS of "PRETENDER" fame has back-door hate-sex with MILFy Rosanna ARQUETTE. And in like the first 30 seconds of the film. That should be more than enough to give this film a good watching. Anyhow a guy gets out of jail or something comes home and finds out his old place is now a burned out METH- LAB. He starts sampling some of the left over's telling his girl "You're hot and young, of course you should be doing meth." He goes to visit mom who's in cahoots with the local parole officer to have her son killed for the insurance money. Mind you his girl friend happens to be the daughter of the local sad-sack Sheriff. So the young couple goes from doing meth, getting addicted to meth, and then making their own meth. Then they get the bright idea to sell it, which adds fuel to the fire. Because now they have to associate with characters outside they're comfort zone. They also have to stay up three days partying until you run out; they're staying up for weeks on end cooking the never-ending supply, to meet demand. The never-ending demand.

Although I wouldn't say this is the best movie I've seen, I thought that it did drive home the addicting and devastating effects of meth production, sale and use. The acting, for the most part, was captivating. I've lived in Iowa for almost a year now, and some folks have been worried about the perspective this gives of the state. I think that the movie really could have been placed in any rural community and still drive home the point. Quite honestly, I think that without the sex scenes, if this movie was shown to junior high school and high school students, it would quell any curiosity to try meth (particularly, I think, the tweaking scene and its aftermath). I still think "Requiem for a Dream" is a better movie that talks about the effects of dreams and the use of drugs to attain those dreams, but I have recommended this movie to many friends as a must-see movie.

I watched the trailer, and the characters have a southern twang that so many filmmakers have used erroneously over the years when representing Iowans. Iowans have an accent, but it certainly is not to be heard in this film. I see that Matt Farnsworth was born in St. Charles, Illinois. I don't know how long he lived in the Midwest, but if he'd been there for at least his childhood, he should know better. Illinois is only a couple hours car drive from Iowa. He should have taken the short trip to get to know his neighbors. While I haven't watched the film, I find the poor representation annoying enough that I have no interest in watching.

I lived in Mystic and Centerville Iowa. They're the two towns in this movie. Believe it or not there's a lot of people that have a twang because they call us laplanders. It's because Missouri laps over into Iowa. And trust me I know this for a fact. Those towns used to be coal mining towns with a lot of money generating back in the 20s through the 50s. But Southern Iowa is very poor like Northern Missouri.

P. S. And Mystic is not on the border that they present. It's 20 miles north of the border.

Plus there's two interviews in this package that will show a family still doing Meth and one who got off of it in the two informative videos. The boys family is from Centerville and it was a cheap place to film the movie.

The extra video is very sickening.