Milwaukee, Minnesota DVD Review:

Mentally disabled Albert (Troy Garity) can hear the fish talking to him. This comes in particularly handy during fishing competitions where Albert manages to haul in quite a bit of cash. Unfortunately, when his overprotective mother (Debra Monk) dies in an ‘accident’, Albert’s prize money becomes a seemingly easy target for several shady characters. Yet Albert isn’t quite as simple as they hope.

Garity should be congratulated for avoiding any theatrics in portraying Albert, he is careful to underplay the character’s disability (Even if his squeaky voiceovers do sound disturbingly similar to Adam Sandler at times. Not a good thing.). Yet it’s Alison Folland’s portrayal of the streetwise and ever resourceful Tuey that catches the eye. Her exchanges with fellow con-artist Jerry James (Randy Quaid) crackle as both try to push each other out of the scam. Folland generally always manages to lend Tuey a likeable quality, even during her worst behaviour.

The snowscapes and rundown buildings are shot admirably and are a fitting reflection of the character’s bleak lives. It’s a shame though that these characters never really warm up. They do appear as an engagingly dysfunctional bunch at first, but this never really develops enough. Although Folland briefly manages to shed some light on the working of Tuey’s mind, the rest remain a little flat. Bruce Dern’s role as the pitiable Mr McNally, Albert’s sole protector, conjures up some sympathy but this isn’t sustained as he is never really fleshed out except in a hurried note to Albert. Probably the worst example is Jerry James (Randy Quaid). He is a villain, but that is it, there really doesn’t seem to be anything else to him.

Thankfully as the film gathers pace and negotiates some twists and turns you are eventually drawn in. It also manages to arrive at a satisfying ending without resorting to a neat, happily-ever- after, although the resolution with Tuey is probably bordering on wishful thinking.

Milwaukee, Minnesota is a solid indie, but not much else. It has drawn a lot of comparisons with Fargo, but really isn’t in the same league. Fargo has far more warmth and depth-of-character (even in the villains), plus a wicked streak of black humour. Milwaukee, Minnesota’s attempts at black comedy, particularly Stanley’s (Hank Harris) hypochondria just feels depressing. There isn’t really anything here that stands out as particularly memorable or that hasn’t been portrayed better elsewhere.

Extras

There’s an interview with director Allan Mindell in which he explains, at length, some of the key decisions he made on the film. Mindell is certainly thorough in his answers and provides some interesting insights like how he wanted his debut feature to be as personal as possible and threw out the rule book. Also interesting is how his creation of Albert was influenced by his experiences as an outsider and through Dostoyevsky’s ‘The Idiot’.

A commentary with Mindell and Troy Garity again sheds some light on how they decided to play Albert. Mindell also runs through a huge list of influences as his tributes to them spring up during the film.

For ice-fishing enthusiasts there is also a DVD Rom game ‘Catching Fish’. Tip: watch out for those beer cans.

Natalie Hunt

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