Feeling Minnesota (1996)

In his debut effort, director/writer Steven Baigleman put together an interesting premise and collected a talented cast to execute it. Unfortunately, he never sets the tone, so we are caught between a wildly black comedy and an emotionally brutal drama. A firmer footing in either genre would have better defined our reactions to it. Keanu Reeves plays Jjaks, a man so badly trod upon by fate that his very name is the result of a typo. He arrives back at his mother's house in a lower working-class Minnesota neighborhood to witness the marriage of his older brother (Vincent D'Onofrio) to an obviously reluctant bride (Cameron Diaz). By the time Jjaks is on his way, he's stolen a car, a dog, and his brother's wife. You have to give Baigleman credit for serving up intriguing characters. Unfortunately, he spins the story in circles instead of moving it along. Reeves and Diaz attempt to leave Minnesota, but never quite make it. Reeves repeatedly returns to a boyhood home he hates, always stumbling into his brother's angry clutches. What does work are the performances. Diaz is both sad and strong as the tough cookie who happens to be the smartest character in the movie. D'Onofrio's stupid nastiness is offset by his crushing love for her and an uncontrollable jealousy of Jjaks. Most surprising is Reeves, who makes us feel for his angry, unhappy loser by revealing flashes of decency under a toughened exterior. --Rochelle O'Gorman Amazon.com

Feeling ill after wasting time with this movie

Because my wife & I grew up in Minnesota and we have enjoyed some of actors we thought this could be interesting. WRONG! It is dull, vain, profane, worthless way to spend 99 minutes. After the 1st 5 minutes we considered turning it off, but continued to look for some comdedy or something that might bring back fond or funny memories of life in Minnestoa. That was our second mistake, right behind renting this in the 1st place! While some of the acting was OK, it lacked plot & seemed like an excuse for good actors to use bad language and act stupid. There is nothing here that remotely resembles life in MN other than some of the scenery. In some ways it reminded me of a really bad Tom & Jerry cartoon with the characters bashing each other for no reason and with no effects. Actally saying that is probably unfair to T & J cartoons as they have more plot & humor. After it was over, I felt nausated that we had wasted almost 2 hours of time on this trash. Our advice - don't make the same mistake watching this polluted video mess! November 10, 2008

Not perfect, but still entertaining

I'm not a K. Reeves fan so I was hesitant about seeing the dvd. However I like the other actors and took a chance. I like the interaction between Reeves and Diaz and D'Onofrio. They were able to elevate his performance and make an enjoyable small movie. Sam (D'Onofrio) works as a mob accountant and Freddie(Diaz) who owes them moeny is forced to marry him. On her wedding day she meets Sam's brother jjaks (Reeves) and hooks up with him. There are several twist and turns, but it more a study of some losers and how they ry to work themselves out of dilemmas. Sam is goofy, but he is also unpredictible and violent. jjaks tries to save freddie but he also has some loyalty to his brother. A think plot but at least the characters are original. November 9, 2008

For the love of Pete...

I suppose everyone is entitled to a "snafu" and this is certainly the gaffe-of-the-year for Keanu Reeves and Cameron Diaz.

Where to begin: This movie was tedious. And did I mention tedious? I would rather visit the dentist than sit through it again. I haven't felt this bad since "Bedtime For Bonzo."

The plot: Who knows? Who cares?

Generally, it's nice to have a protagonist to root for. There are times, of course, when the characters are gray and I can accept that. You don't always have a "hero" or well-defined character who steps up to the plate. But in the case of "Feeling Minnesota" the characters are downright murky and you find yourself wondering, "what's the point?" If I were living with those characters, I'd be hopping on the next zeppelin or Greyhound bus out of town. January 5, 2007

Definately not one of her best....

This is definately not one of Cameron Diaz's best. In my opinion she ends up being a traitor in this movie. This is not a role that Cameron would normally play. Don't get me wrong, her acting is great as well as Vincent's and Keanu's. I think Keanu was the best one in this movie however. This is about a woman forced to get married...against her will. Then her knight and shining armor comes in, or so you think. Until things go totally awry. Things go a totally different way than what you expect them to, some very unexpected events occur. Despite her role in this movie, it is worth seeing. April 29, 2006

Whoooah!!

This is truly one of the worse movies ever made. I found it in the comedy section of my video store and I expected a movie like Raising Arizona - something cute and enjoyable.

After I saw the first scenes with Cameron Diaz being roughed up in the back of the car I thought this will be a great movie (a sleeper) or this will be the worst movie ever made - not sure which - so I decided to see the rest of it. Since I had never heard of it before I expected the latter. I was right!

This movie ranks with classic worst movies such as UTurn and The Farmer. Truly bad - someone needs to revoke this guy's directorial license. Also I always thought of Vincent D'Onofrio as a quality actor - what's that "rocking back and forth and flapping his arms" acting technique he's using? He does it the whole movie! I feel sorry for Dan Akroyd or maybe I shouldn't - what was he thinking when he signed up for this? Oh my! January 2, 2006

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