Review of Milwaukee, Minnesota

Introduction

The barebones cut-down disc is a modern nightmare. It all began with the free DVD. As soon as discs became ubiquitous, and as cheap to produce as their lower bitrate CD cousins, newspapers jumped on the freebee bandwagon. Of course studios didn`t want their classic titles released willy-nilly, so quite rightly the free discs were cut down versions of the retail releases. Forget luxuries like extras, dual layer discs, surround sound and subtitles. All you would get would be the film, with a stereo track, preceded by twenty minutes of unskippable advertising. Well, what do you expect for the price of a tabloid? Only, some bright spark got it into his head that this is the way that budget discs should be. So now, a few months after the full price release of a film, a cut down version with zero features is released at a budget price. It`s just that they forgot that by the time the budget disc is released, the original disc would be in a bargain bin for a similar price. So if you go looking for a film, and wind up with the budget release when you could have had the full-featured version for not much more, you feel like you`ve been mugged. This happened with Donnie Darko, and it now happens with Milwaukee, Minnesota. If you shop around, you should be able to get the full-featured version of Milwaukee, Minnesota, with DD 5.1 and DTS sound, subtitles, extra features including commentary, for just a few pennies more than this no frills disc. Caveat emptor as the upper crust say. Or welcome to rip-off Britain.

Albert Burroughs is a mentally challenged young man who lives with his mother. Not too bright, he has difficulty fitting into society, but he is blessed with a gift, he can hear fish. Under the guidance of his mother, he regularly wins the state`s ice-fishing contests, and has accumulated a sizeable fortune. However the vultures start to circle when his mother is killed in a traffic accident. A young girl claiming to be a reporter arrives wanting to do an exposé on his unique talent, while his long lost father turns up on his doorstep looking to be reunited. But no one is exactly who they appear to be.

Video

Milwaukee, Minnesota is a low budget film and that comes across on the disc. The image is clear for the most part, and has some nice cinematography to it, with mid winter settings providing plenty of bleak white vistas. The image itself is occasionally soft and grainy though, and reds are significantly over-saturated. Given that Albert wears a bright red coat when he goes fishing, this can be glaringly obvious.

Audio

DD 2.0 English. The dialogue is clear. That is all.

Features

The disc kicks off with those godforsaken anti-piracy warnings, fortunately skippable in this instance, and continues with a trailer and a weblink to Prism.

Conclusion

The myth of the untouchable idiot is alive and well in cinema. You know the sort, Rain Man or Forrest Gump, the amiable fool, who is mentally challenged but likeable regardless. All sort of mayhem may be occurring around them, but they continue on their merry way, oblivious to their peril. And of course by the end of the film, they triumph without even realising it. Milwaukee, Minnesota is another entry into the genre. Albert Burroughs is an idiot savant when it comes to ice fishing, and his prodigious talent comes in handy when it comes to earning a crust. Yet all around him, people wish to exploit him, not least his mother who keeps him on a short leash of guilt trips and strict punishment.

I think this film is supposed to be something of a dark comedy, with its portrayal of small town America showing up the absurdities of a close-knit community filled with oddball characters. I gave up looking for any semblance of humour half an hour in, and found it better to approach the film as a straight thriller. Even still, it`s hardly edge of the seat stuff, the story is hackneyed and the characters are all unlikeable. Even with veterans Bruce Dern and Randy Quaid providing solid support, the central performances do little to engage. While I had little trouble accepting Troy Garity`s performance as Albert, it was the female con artist Tuey Stites, as played by Alison Folland that rubbed me the wrong way. The character was a typical cliché, a con artist that develops a conscience through exposure to our hero, and the portrayal hit the wrong notes, coming across as false and unnatural.

It`s fair to say that I`m not a fan of Milwaukee, Minnesota. It`s not dark enough for a dark comedy, the thrills are certainly lacking as a thriller, and as a movie about the afflicted overcoming overwhelming odds to take their place in society, it just isn`t heart-warming enough. It has a certain quirkiness that may appeal to some, but for me it was strictly run of the mill. And any surprises that it may have concealed in its running time were telegraphed well in advance of any potential plot twists. This no-frills budget release is almost a travesty, especially when the full-featured disc is available for not much more in price. Just use the PriceCheck feature on this site to search around for it.