Poor White Trash (2000)

There are several intriguing qualities to this great film. #1 - The story is outrageous with some seriously funny black comedy. #2 - There are four standout performances with colorful characterizations. This is a must see for William Devane's portrayal of Ron Lake, the shopping mall lawyer. M.Emit Walsh is terrific as the compassionate Judge Pike. Jacob Tierney nails the part of totally irresponsible Lenny Lake. Finally Jamie Pressly as Ron Lake's main squeeze is the ultimate sexy bitch. #3 - "Poor White Trash" is so good, and has such tremendous dialog, that multiple viewings are guaranteed. The movie is flat out hilarious, and a real sleeper that deserves instant cult status. - MERK

This movie is one of my favorite redneck movies, and I can say that because I was raised in the south and had relatives that really acted as trashy as some of the people in this movie:) In all seriousness, this movie is fun from beginning to end. It's nothing but a bunch of pure white trash, and if you don't know what that is, this might be a good movie to get started on. The biggest attraction of this movie is Jamie Pressly's high-caliber performance (it may be unfortunate for her own reputation that she fits into white trash roles so well--take Ringmaster, My Name is Earl, etc.--but it's certainly entertaining for the audience). You'll get no redeeming moral qualities from this movie, no great message, no uplifting spirit, but you'll laugh your ass off!

This movie was shot almost entirely in Franklin County, Illinois. When the crew came to town they told authorities their working title was Good Morning Sunrise. The locals anxiously cooperated in the production, including use of police uniforms and equipment to use of the Courthouse at night for filming courtroom scenes. (Although the Franklin County Courthouse in Benton was used for interior shots, exteriors were taken in front of the Jackson County Courthouse in Murphysboro. Many local officials auditioned for bit parts, and I was personally disappointed that a local police chief that had a noticeable stutter wasn't cast. When the movie came out with it's title Poor White Trash, the locals were infuriated and the film was blasted in the local papers. A side note- Mr. Snack's is an actual restaurant which was closed at the time of the film. It has since reopened and still stands on Route 14 in Christopher, Illinois. And one of our county judges proudly displays an autographed photo of M. Emmett Walsh.

I was interested to see this movie, because I grew up in Southern Illinois and ran around in Benton as a teenager. Yes, I was a Carbondale Saluki and I believe I know some of the people Mr. Urba and Addis based their characters on. The scary part of the movie is (even if other didn't like the acting of the cast) that really is how most of the people in the local area act. Here's some trivia, local people were mad because the title of the movie was changed from something nice to something degrading, accurate, but degrading. I am also wondering about how Mr. Addis got so many good actors to be in a low budget, bad movie. I know the film has no A-list stars, but I wasn't aware that the actors in it were so disparate for work. Even a Malkovich was involved in the production. Luckily, the only good thing about this movie was seeing Jamie Pressly in the same frame as the old stomping grounds and the fact I don't live there anymore. Stay down and dirty, Slugdriveruh1