The Drunk

Paul Fleschner and William Tanoos wrote, directed and starred in this independent comedy alongside Tom Sizemore and cameos from Jesse Ventura. Hinting at the millennial generation's suspicion of corrupt party politics (we have had a do-nothing congress for almost a decade), the hard-drinking grandson of the great socialist American Eugene Debs decides to continue the family tradition and run for governor of Indiana. The film is located almost entirely in Terra Haute, which is the birthplace of Eugene Debs, and it captures the spirit of a plain- speaking populist politician who sets out to unite people in the American heartland. Fleschner and Tanoos give a nice performance, and Sizemore hits is out of the park. Although I kept wishing that they exploited their material more deeply (both the Terre Haute setting and the Debs legacy), I'm giving these first time filmmaker a thumbs up.

I'm watching this a few days after Tom Sizemore passed away at the age of 61. If you ever doubted yourself as to his talents as an actor, compare his performance to everyone else in the film. It's a tough watch with Sizemore being the lone shining spot in an otherwise mediocre film.

Jesse Ventura is a fun addition to the mix but plays a character which doesn't really require much acting on his part, no offense to him.

This is a bad movie with a bad script done with student actors and Tom Sizemore doesn't save it. There were moments in the film that were meant to make me feel good, but the only time I felt good was when it was over. And this is coming from an admirer of Eugene Debs.