The Corndog Man

Starring:Noble Willingham, Jim Holmes
Director: Andrew Shea (II)
Studio: Vanguard Cinema
Product Type: DVD

Average customer rating:

Great, Great movie
A Cult Classic!
"I'm a serious fisherman."
great independent movie
"Did you get them britches I sent ya daddy?"

The Corndog Man
Starring: Noble Willingham , and Jim Holmes
Director: Andrew Shea (II)
Manufacturer: Vanguard Cinema
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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ASIN: B0002IQIZQ
Release Date: 2004-09-28

Customer Reviews:

Great, Great movie.......2007-06-12

I took a chance on this a while back in Blockbuster. It is awesome. I love it. I rarely watch a movie twice, much less buy movies, but I just had to have a copy of this so I could watch it time again and show it to all my friends when I start talking about it. I love it!

A Cult Classic!.......2007-04-14

The late Noble Willingham delivers one of the strongest portrayels of a boat salesman who becomes more and more troubled through repeated calls from a man claiming to be his son. Noble Whillingham's character is the primary focus of this low budget movie. His trials and tribulations are both agonizing and hilarious; depending on your sense of humor.

"I'm a serious fisherman.".......2006-06-19

I read a negative review on another site for the film The Corndog Man (1999) that called it `unpleasant, irritating, and sadistic'...yeah, those are the bits I liked...I'd also throw in annoying and uncomfortable...so what happens when an individual decides to systematically attack another, somewhat deserving individual through a series of crank phone calls, and the schlub on the receiving end can't seem to stop himself from continually picking up the phone, despite the fact he knows it will most likely just another attack? It creates an unhappy, yet oddly enjoyable cinematic experience, for myself, at least. Produced, co-written, directed, and edited by Andrew Shea (Santa Fe, Forfeit), the movie features Jim Holmes (My Chauffeur, Odd Jobs) and Noble Willingham (Norma Rae, City Slickers, The Last Boy Scout), one-time Republican nominee for the U.S. House of Representatives in Texas (he lost).

Willingham play Ace Barker, an overweight, pompous, bigoted, loud-mouthed, obscenity spewing boat salesman who works out of the Triple K Marine in Bougherville, South Carolina, which is supposedly the fishing capital of the South. Despite his natural charm, sparkling personality, and ability to turn a colorful phrase, Ace is the number one salesman, but given his competition (a couple of dopey looking types who spend their days peeping on the chubby office girl while she uses the washroom), I wasn't all that surprised. Anyway, things seem to be going well for Ace until one day he begins receiving a series of phone calls from a mysterious individual. At first the caller seems interested in buying a boat, but soon we see his interest is more in harassing Ace, keeping him on the phone, and allowing for others to pick up on the sales Ace normally would have gotten had he not been tied up with the phone. After awhile the calls turn personal, as the man begins questioning Ace about where he eats, what he wears, etc. Day in and day out the calls come in, eventually forcing Ace take matters into his own hands by getting some tape recording equipment and finally going to the police. The calls stop for about a week only to start up again, just as relentless as before, only now the man begins calling Ace at his home, along with his work. Not only that, but the man seems to be stalking Ace, aware of his every move, including his secret liaisons with an African American trannie (I have to say contrary to the Aerosmith song, this dude did not look like a lady). The stress begins to wear on Ace, causing problems, both professionally and personally. Turns out the man, who operates a corndog cart (hence the title of the movie), isn't some random prankster but has a serious interest in Ace, particularly a heinous event Ace participating in way back in the day.

If you get a chance to see this film and enjoy it, you should really check out a CD title `The Tube Bar' as it features a whole series of prank calls made to a gravelly voice, surly bartender named Louis `Red' Deutsch, and were the basis for the prank calls Bart Simpson made to Moe early on in The Simpsons television series. The original bit has such a following that back in the early 1990's someone even made a short feature titled Red (1993), starring Lawrence Tierney as Red, one that utilized the actual recorded material as the audio...the main reason I mention this is because it seems like the filmmakers may have gotten the idea for the story from here, along with a couple of other sources. I was watching a featurette included on this DVD, and the director mentioned that some audience members actually developed a sense of empathy for Ace during the course of the film, despite all of his obvious faults, the main one, in my opinion, was that he was a bigoted SOB. Shea stated this was due primarily to Noble Willingham's acting abilities but I have to say, never at any point during the film did I feel sorry for the character. I'll agree Willingham was a good actor, as I did feel his mental fatigue, but the more I learned of the actual character, the less I cared for his ever-worsening situation...and boy did it deteriorate. As far as his tormentor's motivations, I didn't address the man's reasoning for what he's doing, but it is spelled out clearly within the movie, sometimes through the use of black and white flashbacks peppered throughout the story. The man reveals his identity to Ace early on, but Ace doesn't really make the connection given he didn't remember, or wiped certain past occurrences from his consciousness given their odious nature. I did laugh at some of Ace's misfortunes mainly because they were happening to someone other than me, but it helped a lot given the fact Ace was just an all-around rotten human being whose only respect was for that of the almighty dollar. He did have a pet guinea pig that he doted on, but I have to say, this made me like him even less...why? We can see he's capable of compassion, but chooses not to show an ounce of it towards his fellow man. Nah, he'd rather expend it on a fuzzy, little rat...I'm not saying the creature wasn't worthy, but how about sharing some of that kindness with those who have to occupy the same planet as you do? Whatever...it was interesting how the caller was presented more as an entity rather than an individual with a grudge, at least until we fully learn his relationship to Ace. The funniest bit for me, and there were a few, was when the guy called Ace on the payphone outside of the shop, as Ace was filling some balloons with helium trying to make the place look festive in order to draw in customers. The guy keeps calling, interrupting Ace and at one point Ace accidentally draws in some to the gas, giving his voice a high, silly sounding pitch. Imagine one of those wacky, Disney chipmunks spewing forth a string of angry obscenities...the story is relatively simple, but since it focuses mostly on one character, Ace, we delve into the complexities as to what makes him who he is, and it ain't pretty. All in all this was an interesting and often darkly entertaining film, but certainly not for everyone. If you dig on Todd Solondz (Happiness, Storytelling), David Lynch (Blue Velvet, Wild at Heart), or Steven Soderbergh (Schizopolis, Out of Sight), along with independent films, then this one might be right up your alley.

The picture, presented in widescreen (1.85:1) aspect ratio, looks clean and the Ultrastereo 5.1 Surround Sound comes through clearly. Extras include a promotional trailer (which I'd advise against watching prior to watching the film, a featurette titled "Every Dog Has His Day' (10:36), and a audio commentary track with Andrew Shea and Jim Holmes.

Cookieman108

By the way, after watching this film, you may feel the urge to turn the ringing off on your phone...I sure did, but not because I was concerned about getting crank calls, but just because I was so tired of hearing the damn telephone ring within the movie.

great independent movie.......2006-03-16

I thought this movie was better than most main stream movies.....everyone should own this movie. it might get agravating watching some of the scenes...but it`s a great story of "messing with someone"....Noble Willingham does a great job here. Great movie.

"Did you get them britches I sent ya daddy?".......2006-02-08

Great movie. Very funny. At 83 minutes it's over very quickly, but a fantastic find. If like your comedy dark and your endings unhappy, then this is the movie for you. Be warned though, Amazon said they had it in stock but it still took 3 weeks for me to get it, what gives?

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