Customer Reviews

Vernon, Florida

5 star:		(44)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

One disturbing aspect of American political and popular culture is a common prejudice against country people. As long as I've been here in the Milwaukee metro area, many of the locals seem to look down upon the folks living in the northwoods, especially the U.P. The most common postive reaction to "Vernon, Florida" in these reviews consist of laughing AT the people. One can understand the apparent local distaste for the movie.

"Vernon" is indeed funny. The couple with the growing sand, the keeper of the gopher tortise and the turkey hunter are especially hilarious. The turkey hunter is probably the most quoteable character in a movie that I've seen since Carl Childers. He is also the most interesting and likeable. Many, many people who watch this movie find hunting a repellent activity. The extended time given to the turkey hunter in "Vernon" gives the open-minded viewer a chance to at least appreciate how much this "sport" can mean to someone. Maybe he is obsessed to some unhealthy degree, but I tend to think that's just the way he his.

The characters portrayed here remind me of some of the legendary eccentrics in west Iron County, Mich. Like the characters in "Vernon," their quirks were generally accepted and among the locals they had their dignity. Some of the reviews here brag about taking trips down to Vernon to see if they can find people to laugh at. My suggestion to them is that it's unnecessary: there's enough daffiness to be found in their home state. Or the bathroom mirror.

I've seen this film 35+ times: I know it by heart, and each time I see and hear it (for it's a aural pleasure as much as it's a visual one), I'm struck by Errol Morris' genius for creating three-dimensional poetry. Anyone interested in people, in the human condition, in language, in beauty, in the absurd needs to see this film. Writers, musicians, film directors and editors -- this is a MUST-SEE for ya'll. If artists are people who take the ordinary and transform it into the extradordinary, then Errol Morris is an artist in the first degree, and Vernon, Florida is the proof. The people he finds are demi-gods, just waiting for the opportunity to tell their stories. It is my sincere hope that this masterpiece become available again on VHS and DVD. Do it, Industry.

I am saddened and appalled to see that this film is not currently available on video or DVD. I mean, Christopher Guest's 'mockumentaries' are funny, but this is THE REAL THING! It's just a bunch of people talking about their lives and their town, but it'll make you laugh until you think you might throw up. It's the acid test for choosing friends. If you show this to somebody and they don't think it's hilarious, don't waste any more time on them. Somebody, please, reissue this gem so I can continue to expand my social circle. Thanks.

His film is pretty accurate and representative of the folks who live there. We live nearby and have a fish camp on the creek. But he is wrong to make fun of the 93 year old man because he does really have a gopher and not a pet turtle. That man's pet is a now endangered gopher tortoise and they really do burrow in the ground just like a gopher. People have been known to eat them too. But I never did.

I moved to Vernon in 2002 and first rented the movie downtown at the video store/tanning parlor, next door to the Dixie Dandy and the old town hall. It is amazing how little the downtown area has changed since 1982. I love my new hometown and only wish I could have been around then to meet some of the stars. This is a classic documentary and just too much fun to watch. You'll be quoting your favorite characters for years to come.... 'That's a lot of water out there. Yeah, and that's only the top.'

I agree whole-heartedly that this has to be re-released. Tosee "Vernon", I had to pay [additional] deposit to rent it (because of its status as out-of-print). After watching "Vernon", I would have gladly exchanged the deposit for the tape. This Errol Morris documentary is in my list of top three funniest films ever. There are so many great moments (only in fifty-five minutes)...The whole film is a highlight. Hopefully, it will be released on DVD and include additional footage; my only complaint is that the film is too short.

I first watched this film when it was released. Without any judgement of the people in the film, it is a true slice of a small community. I have shared (carefully) with close friends and it is indeed addictive. When I showed it to my about-to-be-wife, she had second thoughts about our marriage. Now she quotes snippits of the film from time to time. I have loaned out many copies, and they never come back. It is truly a wonderful little movie and the best work Errol Morris created. I have made the pilgrimage to Vernon twice and advice to the pilgrim: Just say you like the town but DO NOT tell them you liked the movie. They are a little uneasy about that.

Errol Morris originally set out to investigate what insurance company officials called "Nub City", where the highest percentage of self-mutilating claims frauds resided. Deciding that the story wasn't what he was interested most in, he turned his camera on the people he met around town and simply let them be themselves: An old man who owns a raccoon which he believes to be a turtle. A pleasant couple who own a jar of sand they claim grows daily. A turkey hunter with near religious devotion to his sport; these and more folk, odd and not so odd. A lost classic of sorts, this is only equaled by Gates of Heaven (also by Morris) for portraits of humanity in all their weird and wonderful glory. Someone PLEASE re-release these two movies.

Before I saw Vernon, I had my doubts. My friend Kevin, fresh from NYU film school, had watched it countless times with classmates, and assured me that it was a can't-miss movie if ever there was one - a heady statement, indeed. But he was right. There's a reason VERNON is a cult classic at the country's finest film school.

It is the funniest movie ever made.

From the maniacal turkey hunter - a character so nuanced and hilarious that he has to be real - to the old man who's convinced his turtle is a gopher, Errol Morris uncovers a gold mine of comedy in this Florida backwater burg. You'll have to watch it at least twice to catch everything, largely because your laughing and wheezing will most likely drown out some gems on first viewing.

I implore: Columbia TriStar Home Video to re-release it; and you to find it, somehow. It is extraordinary.

Please. See this movie.

You'll understand.

You have the turn the volume up on your TV extremely high to hear this movie, even then it's difficult to understand what they're saying. Also, at certain times (like when a truck is rushing past) you're treated with a full-blast of sound, shattering yer stinkin' eardrums.

It's a shame, because it's a great movie marred by a technical isse.