Search - Vernon, Florida on DVD

Entertaining slice of rural quirk-dom

P. Kufahl | 09/30/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"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."

ABSOLUTELY THE FUNNIEST DOCUMENTARY EVER MADE

Nick Morrison | Gig Harbor, Washington | 01/18/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

It grows, it grows

Christa M. Forster | Houston, TX United States | 05/09/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."

Errol Morris is Mistaken

Nick Morrison | 02/25/2005

(5 out of 5 stars)

"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."