Published: July 23, 2009 07:08 pm      

Kandace's Korner: A trip to the video store hits home

I’ve rented more movies of late, which is a rare treat as we’re always so busy and usually do not have the time to watch a lot of television, let alone movies.

But last weekend, when I returned to the movie store for more entertainment, I came across this title, “Walker Payne.”

The premise of the movie sounded intriguing — Ne’er do well Walker Payne is down on his luck in the late 1950s, but trying to do what he can to get custody of his two daughters from his estranged wife. So what does he do? He decides (or rather is convinced) to turn to dogfighting, using his best friend and loyal companion, Brute, a pit bull. Oh, and he’s also on parole living in a dead-end town.

I’m equally intrigued because the movie stars not only Jason Patric, but Sam Shepard and Bruce Dern, the latter two of which I enjoy watching very much.

But here’s where the movie dies for me.

The director and writer of the film is Matt Williams, a native of Evansville, Ind., and for those who may not know, most famously known for creating the television series Roseann, which starred Roseann Barr and John Goodman. You can also add The Cosby Show and Home Improvement to his resume, as well as a number of television shows. Very successful writer, producer and filmmaker. Good for him.

As I’m watching the first few minutes of the film, the characters have been laid off at a local strip mine, and while Jason Patric’s character Walker Payne is driving through his hometown, the camera pans quickly over a sign on a building. I didn’t catch all the words, but I did catch the last: “Carmi — 19 miles east.”

Whoa.

As a former resident of Carmi, how could I not question the setting of this “dead-end town.” So Rodney starts getting an earful: Did that say Carmi? Where the heck is this taking place at? McLeansboro? That’s about 20 miles or so? McLeansboro had mines. Wait. What kind of mines were they? There were strip pits near New Haven, but no, that’s south. There’s a mine currently at Carmi. Oh my gosh, where the heck is this setting?

In the movie, behind the town’s square a water tower looms in the background, and I can’t help but think I’ve seen it before.

About halfway or so through the movie, it’s finally revealed — Norris City.

And now I’m starting to frown. That can’t be Norris City, I mumble as Rodney ignores me. They don’t have bars. They’ve been a dry city forever as far as I know. Just to make sure, I did place a call to the Norris City library, and the head librarian informed me she believed the city had been dry since the late 40s. The city only became wet again this past election — by one vote — and that still remains a controversy from my understanding.

In the film, when Walker Payne and his new friend make the trip from Illinois to Kentucky to participating in the dogfighting, the landscape just didn’t ring Ohio River country to me or even made me think of Southern Illinois. In another scene, Walker Payne takes his love interest to a deserted drive-in theater. And all I could think about was the old drive-in theater in Muddy, which is probably another 20 miles or so from Norris City.

I won’t even mention the fact that a modern modular home snuck into one scene as Mr. Payne was driving through the neighborhood.

But I digress.

The fact is, I was too busy trying to compare the Norris City (where I have relatives and have passed through many times) I knew to the one on the screen, so the movie just didn’t work for me. And though I’m no expert on the town or its history, I’m only comparing my own memories with what Matt Williams tried to create for his film.

And to further add insult to the injustice I feel Williams created with his dramatic license, the 2008 “Walker Payne” wasn’t even filmed in Illinois, let alone Norris City. Instead, Williams chose South Carolina and Youngstown, Ohio, as filming locations.

Oh yeah, South Carolina definitely looks like Southern Illinois, don’t you think?

How sad, especially considering that if Williams had indeed chosen to film on location in the obscure town that no one across the nation has probably even heard of, what would that have done for the local economy? For the towns that loiter near Norris City? Or hey, even just for the people in Southern Illinois.

I like the story synopsis, Mr. Williams. Too bad you didn’t quite get it right.