At Any Price

source: At Any Price

Hollywood has never been able to get the heartland right. Every time they try, it's an unnatural mating. The script is unrealistic, the acting is forced, they just don't know real America well enough to even fake it halfway realistically. This film has every cringe-worthy moment - a father whose character overacts in a way that nobody acts in real life and who talks about mechanical stuff like he doesn't know his way around a wrench even though he runs a farm; a son who hates his dad for unknown reasons supposedly because his dad wants the son to continue the family farm (why be angry about it?); simulated sex in a grain silo that feels more like something nasty on a Hollywood back street than a Midwestern farm, a girl who hangs out at the farm supposedly because she likes the son but hangs out with the dad more than the son. Nothing makes sense and the script is out of whack and the acting is awful. Big fat zero.

At Any Price is the type of film that causes the audience to seriously consider the lengths at which a father will go to protect his son. Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) is a large scale Iowa farmer who is working to pass the family business down to one of his sons. He has two sons and the eldest who originally went off to college is now exploring the world, which leaves the reins to be passed to the younger son Dean Whipple (Zac Efron) who has very little interest in carrying on the farming legacy. Dean is building a name for himself as a racer and has his sights set on a career in Nascar. This was the second film in the fest that I had viewed that touched on sibling rivalry between brothers, and this one was not much more rewarding than the other, Awful Nice. This story is entirely character driven, which is a bit ironic since the primary male characters are not particularly likable. The bright spot in the story is Dean's girlfriend Cadence (Maika Monroe), who knew how to ingratiate herself with people and was obviously a very smart girl. She made all the drama a bit more palatable as we traverse through cold and calculated purchase and sales tactics, with all the manipulation and deception, who knew that farming could be so devious. This story took my knowledge of farming to a whole new level, I would have thought that a farming story would be about who can grow the largest squash for the county fair, but this was morel about acquiring more land and building a customer base for seed sales. The theme that overshadowed the entire film was competition, brothers competing for their father's attention. Some of the story seemed a bit disjointed and served little purpose other than to emphasize how strained the father and son relationship was. The scenes with Dean and Henry were the most poignant, although Dean just came across as a spoiled entitled brat, Henry seemed to genuinely care about his son and was failing miserably at trying to figure out how to relate to him. I would love to say that this was a feel good story of a father and son who bond over circumstances that ultimately make them stronger as a family, but that is not the case since the feel good part of the story just never materialized.

after watching I was surprised by its low IMDb rating (5.6 currently). I liked it, it held my attention, felt on its own it was entertaining and was one of those I think to myself "I'm glad I watched that". I'm not a film critic or film-making buff so don't know mechanically what makes a movie good, it's more a thing of you know it when you see it. to be fair before writing this I read some of the less favorable reviews and can see they have their points. but in imd-land the mid-5s kinds of movies are getting into the range where a movie is clearly not well-thought of and it's hard to see how that can be true of this one. also I don't watch previews/trailers or really read much besides the brief IMDb synopsis at the top so maybe my lack of expectation helps. I watched this because I like dennis quaid, he's one of those actors that on the screen I find easy to like and his performances are usually good. this isn't the kind of role I'm used to seeing from him (the clever/charming/gregarious kind of guy) but I thought he played it quite well. the overarching theme seems to be there's no overarching theme. it was more or less an hour and a half of stuff involving people that happened to be in iowa, some of which happened to be farmers. it didn't seem to me it was pushing any kind of viewpoint, we just get to witness some unusual things that can make one think "what would I have done in that spot?" it almost had the dryness of a documentary in that there's no crescendos (musically or otherwise) trying to tell the audience what to feel where. to me the movie was more about what's inside the characters rather than what happens externally when they interact. from that standpoint I wasn't put off by some of the disjointedness other reviewers rightfully point out. I did notice in hindsight once the movie was over that much of it seemed formulaic and had many of the kinds of twists every other movie has, but what struck me was being engrossed enough that as it unfolded I didn't really notice until it was over with. bottom line for me is it was entertaining and worth the time spent watching it.

I didn't have anything to watch so I went to Video on Demand, that was the worst mistake I have ever made. First of all, the trailers show the whole movie that had any good parts. I was completely grossed out by Dennis Quaid getting it on with a girl more than half his age. The noises...OMG it took about 3 weeks to get that thought out of my head. Then it was so unbelievable when Zac Efron's character killed someone and they just buried the body and went on with their lives. For real? It reminded me of 'Unfaithful' where Richard Gere's character hits the guy and he is dead and he hides his body. The same concept. It was short, but that was probably the best thing about it. The way it ended was just plain stupid. No one came clean about the death, they just brushed it off. Stupid movie.

'AT ANY PRICE': Three and a Half Stars (Out of Five) Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron both give outstanding performances in this tragic drama about competitive farming directed and co-written (with first time writer Hallie Elizabeth Newton) by Ramin Bahrani. I haven't seen any of Bahrani's previous films but I know he's garnered a lot of critical praise and attention. Roger Ebert, in 2009, said "Ramin Bahrani is the new great American director". He also praised this movie as "a great film" as well but it hasn't been loved by everyone and has received mixed reviews at best. I found it to be a good film (but not great). I'm not a big fan of tragedies and while this film does find 'hope in the darkness', like all good films should, it's still a little too dark and depressing for me (great performances though). The film is about a family of farmers (the Whipples), who are desperately trying to stay successful in the increasingly competitive modern world of agriculture. They're lead by Henry Whipple (Quaid) and the film centers primarily on his relationship with his second eldest son, Dean (Efron). Having already lost his eldest son, from following in his footsteps (he left and is climbing a mountain somewhere far away), Henry desperately wants Dean to continue the family business. Dean wants to leave town as well though and dreams of becoming a race car driver. When an investigation into illegal seeding practices, by the Whipples, begins to haunt the family, and threatens to destroy their business, Dean and Henry are brought closer together (but tragedy also strikes). The film co-stars Kim Dickens, Heather Graham, Maika Monroe, Chelcie Ross and Clancy Brown. They're all adequate in the film but it's Quaid and Efron that really shine. Some say it's Quaid's best performance ever (like Ebert had) but he's always been a good actor. It's Efron that continues to surprise me! Having started out as a prettyboy teen star I never thought he had much talent but he continues to prove me wrong (especially here). Bahrani's directing is good, the cinematography is beautiful and the story is involving and believable. Like I said it's just a little too dark and depressing for me, although there are positive moments as well. I prefer to see life as more positive than negative and this isn't a movie I'd say reinforces that notion. Watch our movie review show 'MOVIE TALK' at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_1fzjYYyuk

Let me begin by saying that I'm a huge fan of the director Ramin Bahrani, who also co-wrote this film with Hallie Elizabeth Newton. I thought 3 of his previous films were brilliant-"Goodbye Solo", "Chop Shop", and "Man Push Cart". In this latest movie, he presents an intense drama played out in the farm heartland of America. Dennis Quaid is superb as Henry Whipple, a rather smarmy, passive- aggressive owner of a huge and prosperous farm in Churdan, Iowa. He's extremely proud to be the latest in his family to run the farm passed down through four generations. He wants to pass it along to either of his two sons, preferably to Grant, the eldest, or to Dean the youngest. However, they have little interest in the farm, with Grant climbing mountains in Argentina while Dean, ably portrayed by Zac Efron, wants to be a NASCAR driver, after some success at local dirt tracks. Henry is under a lot of pressure to maintain his status. His father Cliif (Red West), despite being retired, is quite controlling and always pushing Henry to make sure nothing goes wrong with the family business and their heritage. Also, a rival grain salesman Jim Johnson, well portrayed by Clancy Brown, is having success "turning" Henry's customers to his side. Finally, a whistleblower has alerted investigators that Henry may be involved in illegal activities, by cleaning and re-selling GMO's (genetically modified seeds). All of this pressure will bring great strain on Henry's family, eventually leading to dramatic and tragic consequences for all concerned. There's lots of strong performances in supporting roles. Maika Monroe, as Cadence Farrow, Dean's sweet and sharp witted girlfriend, has excellent screen charisma and could be a young star in the making. Kim Dickens is also solid in her performance as Irene Whipple, Henry's perhaps too patient and loving wife. Finally , Heather Graham adds to the mix as Meredith Crown, Henry's long time mistress. I thought Bahrani captured the feel of the Iowan farm community quite well in the movie. I believe the film received lukewarm reviews, but, as mentioned, I found it to be an engrossing intense drama. I also thought the ending was true to the nature of the film and not a cop out, although I could see how others may not take it that way.

I struggle to find words for this film aside from awful. The acting was good.pro. However all the events in the film went towards nothing. The film is so random, its like the film was made up of different scenes from different movies. There's no climax just a load of dilemmas didn't really understand the role of 'Dean'(Zack Efron) and I didn't understand what happened with him at all, it was just so random. What happened with that blonde woman? what was her purpose? why was she there? I was expecting a twist at the end that explained everything, but no, awful. I actually found a part of the movie slightly disturbing, you'll know which part when you watch it, I had to look away because I was not expecting that at all because it didn't fit in with the film but yes that disturbed me and there was not point of this certain event. So, to conclude, this film is full of nonsense that has no meaning, its like the director was drunk and just shouted out new events they could throw in to make the story interesting. guess what. it didn't work. This movie is half of a story and I did not enjoy it.

Note: possible Spoiler Alert Yes, this quote actually comes out of the mouth of one of the more irresponsible self-serving egocentric characters created for a film - one Henry Whipple. And that is only for starters. This mess of a film (written by Hallie Newton and adapted for the screen by writer/director Ramin Bahrani) is an American Midwest epic about crime down on the farm, but no one seems to notice that is the topic. It reminds us of that old Midwest saying 'He's so dumb he couldn't pour pee out of a side-laced boot with the directions written on the heel'. Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) inherited a family corn farm and continues the long family tradition of making it a success in Iowa - even to the point of becoming involved in a criminal malfeasance that has to do with seed. He has two sons - All American athlete Grant (Patrick W. Stevens), who has wisely left this station to climb mountains in Argentina, and Dean (Zac Efron), who hates the farm and loves destruction derby car racing and glibly tells his father he will have nothing to do with the 'family farm inheritance' - and a wife (Kim Dickens) who is so passive that her only positive gesture, other than serving lemonade to the annual customer appreciation crowd, is to give Dean $15,000 to join the racing industry - a waste because Dean is unprepared to cope with his dream. Henry womanizes with Meredith (Heather Graham) - so does Dean - but that's OK. Dean robs and murders, but that's OK. And when the Whipple farm faces a possible end, Henry lies his way out of it with some wimpy reparation and more lemonade and dancing at the customer appreciation picnic. Even Dean's abused well-meaning girlfriend (Maika Monroe) is able to just smile and move on. The only character who seems to have some respect is our mountain climbing Grant who has left this weakened family. End. It might be possible to simple label this flimsy little film as boring, but it is so meaningless and mean-spirited that it likely will cause a mix of anger and disgust in the viewer. Have we really dropped this low in the lack of decency? Grady Harp

. This film is dark. The Whipple family, around whom this film is centered, is a ruthless group of people: the title of the film should say it all.  Without spoiling the film, don't expect a "chick flick" or a feel-good  "son makes good as a race car driver" movie. Early on we see the son we see the son, Dean Whipple, (played by Zac Efron) show his character. Almost immediately we see Dennis Quaid's Henry Whipple character. Still the film proceeds to surprise in a very well written story, just how barren the Whipple family is of anything approaching decent human beings. This movie is a sleeper (look it up), it should win at least best directing and best screen play. The characters surprise you at their maliciousness. Listen to the thrum of the wind generators as they alone bare witness to this bleak family. In, short SEE THIS FILM!