Small Town Wisconsin

I caught this at the Rising Sun International Film Festival in Kitakyushu this past November. It's an incredible film. The story isn't new, but how it's perfectly told is what gives Small Town its brilliance. Excellent writing, perfectly directed and topped off by amazing performances by the entire cast. The audience gave the film a standing ovation!

I was hoping for more with this movie but found it to be unbearably depressing. The piano score throughout was terrible, always pensive as if someone was in the last of their days on earth.

Spoiler: No one dies of cancer. All you really have is a drunk who is resigned to his addictive dead-end life, and the pity he inflicts onto all around him, including his kid, best friend, ex-wife, sister, hotel receptionist, and just about everyone he comes into contact with.

This is not to say that the movie had any issues with the writing or acting- Wayne is surrounded by friends that truly seem to care about him, a decent guy trying to do the best with what he has. All the actors do a great job with their characters- in fact, that might be part of the problem. They are so believable as to make the whole movie even more painful. I would happily watch anything else with this same cast.

Ugh- regret paying for this movie, regret watching this movie- next time I want to be this depressed, I'll watch 'The Days of Wine and Roses" again- at least that movie was scored beautifully.

Was fortunate enough to see "Small Town Wisconsin" at the Red Tock Film Festival in Cedar City, UT.

Absolutely loved it. All of the performances were spot on - not a weak moment in the film. Mueller's deft skills and talents are obvious throughout. Sullivan's performance echoes those of the late Phillip Seymour Hoffman. It's going to be interesting to see his future trajectory. Musical score develops beautifully and impressively - aligned with the mood and tone of script and performance. Nate Goodman's camera too, serves the story. All cinematic elements are in servitude to the collective mosaic. Not an ego in the bunch. Goes to show the power of the collective.

I just saw this movie and liked it, though it was a bit of a downer at times. It's hard watching someone who can't get their life together even though it means hard consequences will be enforced. Addiction is hard to watch. It was a touching story. Well written, realistic, heartwarming, sad, well executed. You'll go through a spectrum of emotions before the movie ends. Not giving it a 10 because it dragged in parts. Acting was great from everyone. I'm always amazed at the depth of range some child actors can bring to a performance. Being from Wisconsin I liked seeing my state represented. I've driven down lakeshore dr to admire the fancy houses and going to see a brewers game for the first time is an exciting experience. Worth seeing.

A real setting, with real people, real dialogue, and real complex problems. No easy solutions in this one, either, because that's life! Kudos to filmmaker Niels Mueller and the entire cast and crew.