Don't Believe the Hype

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

The film makes a home in your brain and the only cure is to see it again.

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This movie is clearly a clever, subtle satire of banking systems. The tag line is the premise of the movie "When You're $100,000 In Debt, It's Your Problem. When You're $1,000,000 In Debt... It's The Bank's." Now, in 2010, we're seeing that if banks owe many billions of dollars, then it is the taxpayer's problem. Rosalie's problem has recently become a problem for all of us. This problem is not only limited to one country or banking system. Rosalie is not a heroine, she is the personification of consumerism gone out-of-control, and a banking system that enables it. The movie really provides an underlying warning message. It should be required watching for anyone who wants to understand why things can easily go wrong in any banking system. Although I first saw this movie in the early 1990s, I think it will make most sense to people now, in 2010!

I'm giving this film a "10" to improve the unfair "5" voters have given it; it's really around a 7 or 8. There is a real goofiness to this film, even a charm, that I've seen in few other movies. The characters are quirky, alright, but less stupid than just seriously deluded, living in their dreamworlds. Rosalie dances blissfully along throughout the film under the illusion that credit and buying things is the reason for existence. (Of course, this is precisely the design that corporate America has for us assenting, duped citizens.) But Percy Aldon, the director, does not hold contempt for Rosalie; in fact she remains likable to the end of the film, even as (perhaps because) she bilks her creditors repeatedly. (Warning: do not try this at home!) And, up to the end, she appears to get away with it. Is she crazy? No more than most Americans, as loaded down with debt as most of us are. Rosalie's husband, played by the late Brad Davis, is the goofiest of all; what strange brainwaves was he channeling when he acting this role? And Judge Reinhold is fun as Rosalie's befuddled priest. I can't think of too many films that deserve DVD reissue more than this one. One day we may all look back at this neglected film, as small and quirky as it is, and see it as prophetic, a major explication of our nation's debtor woes. But I hope I'm wrong, that we Americans suddenly begin to eschew debt, make it taboo, and wake up to smell the roses. As Wordsworth wrote, "The world is too much with us."

A buddy of mine watched this for the first time (it was my second or third) and he captured it perfectly: "It's like 'the Addams Family' in Arkansas, without the creepiness." He was right. If you like movies with small casts, that are quirky, feature great cinematography and use subtle humor to open a window to an interesting little corner of the world, this film is for you. Percy Adlon also works this magic with "Bagdad Cafe" and "Salmonberries." The only disappointment was singer Jim Lauderdale not releasing the equally endearing country/reggae fusion end credits song, "Flyin' Back to Rosalie," an absolute gem. I liked this movie so much, I actually went out of my way while driving across Arkansas to visit the town of Stuttgart, see the Riceland Mill and see the museum, all places where the film was shot.

This film takes the word "quirky" to a whole new level. While it is a little dated now, due to advances in computers (and the fact that Rosalie's computer crimes would not likely happen today), it is such a monumentally freakish film that you just can't miss it.How can you miss seeing the late Brad Davis in one of his most unlikely roles? And how can you miss seeing Judge Reinhold as a priest who keeps having to listen to Rosalie teling him of all her crimes? The mere spetacle of Germans in rural Arkansas is reason enough to see this fun little film. It has no big message, really, except poking fun of 1980's American consumerism, but the sheer wackiness of the family in this movie makes it a worthwhile diversion for a night when you could use a laugh.