Poor White Trash (2000)

Linda Bronco(Sean Young) is determined that her sensitive son will break free of trailer park life and become a family therapist. But it won't be easy. Linda has to rescue her son Mike and his slow-witted pal Lennie, who get caught roasting a Chevy Vega. Linda, Mike and Lennie decide that robbing the rich of Sunrise, IL is their only hope of paying Mike's tuition. Joining them is their uncle's trophy wife Sandy (Jaime Pressly). It's Linda, Mike, and Lennie against a posse of gun-toting townies - and the prize is a trailer-full of stolen cash!

I found Sean Young's commentary track very refreshing...and I liked the movie too.

I'd give the movie 3 stars on it's own, but due to the refreshing criticism by both Sean Young and the writer/director on the single commentary track, I'm adding an extra star to the overall grade.

This movie suffers from absolutely awful cinematography (Dir. of Photog.'s first film). Although, because this is a movie about poor white trash, it is almost fitting. Regardless, I still enjoyed the movie right from the very beginning.

However, to help get you into the right mood to watch this movie, I would suggest that you listen to a bit of the Sean Young and writer/director's commentary track, before you begin watching, so that you can hear how relaxed and frank the two of them are. They are having fun eating and drinking while they do the commentary (eventually, you hear bottles being opened, etc.). In less than a minute you should be relaxed, so just jump back to the beginning of the movie and watch it without the commentary (the first time).

In the commentary track, both the director and Sean Young quite often comment on the bad lighting and low budget they had to put up with, and I was shocked to hear Sean Young talk about how Jason London didn't get along with her, and how he basically berated her on the set. She also criticized the cinematographer (his first film) and the director, in a friendly, yet, educational way. I found it to be both entertaining and informative.

One great side effect about having a low budget, is that you often have just one take to do most of the scenes. This allows for the inclusion of many scenes that include actor errors or mishaps that would normally be edited out or reshot. One such great scene occurs when Jaime Pressly is trashing a hospital room. Shortly after she kicks a small television across the room, she loses her balance after bumping into a table, slips, and then takes a hard fall. Without missing a beat, she gets up immediately and continues on with the scene. Both Sean and the director get a nice laugh out of it, on the commentary track.

I also believe that if this Dvd was handed out for free, to 100 random people in a major city, 80 of them would probably stop watching it after 20 minutes or less. Ten of them would just fast forward scan to see all of Jaimie Pressly's scenes, and the final ten people would enjoy it as much as the majority of the Amazon reviewers here seem to.

I think the low budget look to the movie would turn most people off. It also takes awhile until the entertaining William Devane or Jaime Pressly appear (no, Jaime is never naked-a bikini is as close as she gets). Also, surprisingly, there's no nudity at all in the film- just one very partial side breast of a girl is quickly shown, but nothing else I remember.

So, even though there's probably a 60%-80% chance you won't want to watch the whole movie, or even bother listening to the commentary track, I would still suggest that you at least rent it, to see if it becomes one of your guilty pleasures. It's certainly one of mine.

Like one of the menu choices on the Dvd states..."Play the Damn Movie".

See ya at the trailer park! July 24, 2007

=] *****

Michael Addis once again presents the audience with entertainment like no other. PWT, finally a dvd worth buying. The storyline is riveting, unlike most of the trash that floods your local Blockbuster. Do yourself a favor, don't listen to these tools who criticized it like they've never left their mothers basement. They obviously don't know what they're talking about!... This movie f-ing rocks, so check out this movie, yeah. It's worth it. =] June 30, 2006

Painfully Funny

Saw this once on video and couldn't wait to buy the DVD. It's the kind of comedy like the work of Christopher Guest where the characters seem painfully real. I recommend this to anyone who appreciates off-the-wall slightly depraved humor. September 23, 2005

Don't Kick This 'Trash' to the Curb...

Once upon a time in a trailer park to close to say lived two boys who are bored and decide to score some 'Near Beer" from the local quickie mart. This turns bad and the two are arrested. They meet the grandfather attorney who gets them off.. for a price. A chain reaction of hillarity insues. Sean Young is effective as the white trash mother who will do anything to make sure her son gets into college, and doesn't have to live in a trailer the rest of his life. Not as stupid as it appears to be. The screenplay is smart, even with such lines as "You're hot as doughnut grease, babe." That line is a gem. Bound to be a redneck classic, Jeff Foxworthy would be proud. The only thing missing was Jerry Springer. November 21, 2004

You won't want to miss A LINE!!!

From the moment I first saw this film, I was drawn in to it. The entire film is hilarious and each and every time I see it ( and I have seen it over and over)I find yet another bit of hilariously hidden gems, whether it's the scenary, the great looks of the characters or the witty lines, you can easily miss, while in the middle of laughing at something else.
Once, when I watched this film with my best friend, we rewound the same scene over and over again, laughing harder and harder each time!!!
Take a chance and you will be so glad you did!!! BUT POP YOUR POPCORN AHEAD OF TIME YOU WON'T WANT TO LEAVE THE TV! May 24, 2004

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