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)

This is a true independent film: a low budget, a strong story, no familiar actors, no familiar director and a production company I will probably never hear about again.

The story is about as simple as stories get: one man, employed at a boat shop, starts receiving harassing phone calls from another man who claims to be his son. The calls increase throughout the movie and we piece by piece see the connection between the two men.

This film relies almost entirely on dialogue and vulgar language (with such expressions as "you can kiss a good man's ass"). There is not much for action. The film could be considered a comedy with the humorous exchanges between the two men and the antics that ensue, but underneath it all is a drama and a social commentary on race relations.

This film will make you want to smoke and eat corn dogs. So make sure you purchase corn dogs before watching the movie or you will regret this. I recommend the film, although it's not something you would watch at a party or with a special friend. Invite over that kid who likes "Clerks" and "Slacker"... they'll appreciate this one.

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

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.

In modern movie making, an unfortunate trend has surfaced. In order to keep people interested in a film, too much of the story is given away right away, due to lack of ability to properly develop characters in a subtle fashion. And this may be why Corndog Man receives rather mixed reviews. In reality, Corndog Man is a skillful work which purposely doesn't portray Ace Barker, our main character, as an evil man or a vicious one for a purpose. This is a work not only about the torture of an evil man, but about the difficulty to pin evil on him. Wonderful acting and plot development make you somewhat sympathetic for Ace, as his life is shredded, because you don't know why it's happening until the end. It's a quick reversal when your emotions see the truth, an all too common feeling in real life when things and people aren't as they originally seem. Not too often does a movie properly invoke real reactions. Yes, the sound of a phone ringing does tempt one to pull out some hair, but all in all it's worth it. My highest recommendations for Corndog Man.