| Homegrown
humor doesn't go to pot
By LIZ BRAUN
Toronto Sun
Dope farmers who witness their boss' murder quickly
decide to harvest and sell the crop themselves. That's the story
in Homegrown -- sweet and simple -- but a strong cast turns this
one into a worthwhile black comedy.
What happens to people when greed rears its ugly
head is the basis of Homegrown, which stars Billy Bob Thornton,
Ryan Phillipe and Hank Azaria as a trio of marijuana wranglers operating
in Northern California.
Thornton is the ostensible brains of the operation,
Azaria a nervous horticultural expert, and Phillipe is more or less
a field hand and the butt of most jokes.
The film is not, thankfully, a pot comedy and we
are happy to report that nobody says, "Oh, wow," even
once.
When their boss (John Lithgow) is killed, the boys
decide to take matters into their own hands. A minor grass sale
goes well, so they return to the fields, uncertain about who killed
their boss or why, and risk all to get the rest of the dope and
sell it. Money is involved. Big money.
Their task brings Kelly Lynch, playing a dope packager
who may or may not be trustworthy, into the story, and soon enough
they encounter Jamie Lee Curtis as a hippie mother figure, Jon Bon
Jovi as a family man and drug wholesaler, and Ted Danson, in a particularly
hilarious cameo, as a mafia interloper.
What keeps you watching Homegrown are the characters.
Thornton, who rises to his new responsibilities, slowly takes over
the work and then the life of his deceased boss. A love triangle
of sorts develops with Lynch, Azaria and Phillipe.
Everybody secretly plans how he'll change his life
once the big money comes in.
People alternate between paranoia and euphoria, dodging
complications and investigating mysteries until it looks as if the
whole deal will work out.
The ending of Homegrown is entirely yahoo, but never
mind.
Stephen Gyllenhaal co-wrote and directed Homegrown
and cuts his actors plenty of slack, which may account for the success
of the humor.
The whole story moves forward with an underlying
tension, but you can't help laughing -- inept bad guys trying to
bribe the sheriff, Thornton carrying a gun and running through the
woods in a fancy dressing gown, lovers declaring themselves while
each holds a gun on the other.
Homegrown is low-budget and technically scrappy.
Somehow, that serves the subject matter well. |
