
A foul-mouthed and bigoted boat salesman in rural South Carolina is targeted for ruthless and never-ending telephone terrorism by a mysterious man claiming to be his son...... (Full plot summary below)
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A foul-mouthed and bigoted boat salesman in rural South Carolina is targeted for ruthless and never-ending telephone terrorism by a mysterious man claiming to be his son...
Leave your thoughts about The Corndog Man.
| User ReviewSteve KThis is not an easy movie. It needs a reboot. |
| User ReviewDe Kdeddy...what do you do for an itchy butt! |
| User ReviewPatricia C"The Corn Dog Man" is one of those rare psychological thrillers that strikes the perfect balance between comedy and suspense. The laughs are perfectly dark, the pace is relentless and the tone is ominous. Ace Barker is a good ol' boy boat salesman at Triple K Marine Sales in Bougherville, SC. When we meet him he is on the phone with a potential customer who is interested in buying a very particular boat. Ace, eager to make the sale, goes all out for the customer but soon discovers this customer wants more from him than a boat. The phone calls from the customer to Ace seem annoying and childish at first, harmless even, but we soon see that something else is at work here. The caller begins to stalk Ace, contacting him multiple times during the day to ask him silly questions or to let him know that he sees him. What follows is a harrowing journey through Ace's shameful past, a past fraught with racism and a shameful moment of cowardice and ugliness that ultimately contributes to the collapse of his life and mind. Noble Willingham gives a superb performance as Ace, a small man of monumental weakness. He is the oldest salesman at his dealership and is surrounded by younger, hungrier salespeople whom he competes with tooth and nail for sales daily. Ace is a toothless hound chewing on an old houseshoe; Triple K Marine Sales has seen better days and so has Bougherville, SC. But some things never change, such as Bougherville's barely covered racist attitudes and ignorance. "The Corn Dog Man" is essentially a one-man play, with the only speaking parts belonging to Ace and the customer, who we never really see. The dialogue is top drawer; we get to see how Ace begins to slowly unravel as this caller works, works, and works his nerves. For all intents and purposes, he is a voice on the phone, not overtly violent or hateful but most definitely aggressive and calculating. Like a spider he spins a web for Ace slowly and methodically then, once he has caught him, proceeds to torment his mind and suck the life out of him until an empty, hollow shell is all that is left. And he does it all from a motel room telephone. The verbal and psychological jousts that occur between the two men are just extraordinarily written; both textured and nuanced we learn just as much about Ace between verbal bashings as we do when he's actually in high hell gear. The cinematography is perfect in depicting Boughersville as the town that time forgot. It looks like the 1960's; the town is still segregated and its citizens still eye each other with suspicion and uneasiness. When Ace goes to a bar on the Black side of town to rendezvous with his transvestite barber/lover, the seething resentment in the eyes of the bar patrons is palpable. The racism of Boughersville is both overt and covert in this film; the name of the boat dealership itself, Triple K, is very telling and the personage of the dealership's elderly owner is spot on. His white hair is combed into a peak on the top of his head but this is no faux-hawk, this is a Klan hood. The only woman in the film is the dealership's receptionist, an utterly atrocious creature who turns tricks with her male coworkers on the job between sales. This is a nonspeaking part, but her actions speak volumes to us; she is one part of a trinity, the other being the tranny, and the third being the woman who all this is really about. Her role as White whore contrasts nicely with the Black Madonna figure of the third woman; the tranny, a male prostitute, works the middle as a fulcrum. Although he is treated with respect by the members of his community, once he steps over to Ace's side of town he gets the full Monty from the guys at Triple K. Once again we see the white male dominance of this town. Ace's younger co-workers and sales competitors are losers; they are second-rate salespeople in a third-rate town whose futures are about as bright as bottomless pits. Their frat boy antics consist of peeping at the receptionist through a hole in the restroom wall. This tells us that Boughersville is also sexist and that its women are just as oppressed as blacks. The receptionist is doing what oppressed women with limited options do in her situation; she manipulates and controls the men who think they have power and control over her through sex. Uneducated and ignorant, her options are slim to none that she'll rise above Boughersville, so she uses sex to weaken and subdue her oppressors. Ace's tranny trysts are indicative of the severe repression he's living under in that town. He is not an evil man; he owns a guinea pig as a pet, he's capable of affection. What Ace is is a sensitive, repressed man trapped in an oppressive stratum of society that strangles its members from cradle to grave by forcing them to conform to outdated behaviors, mores and attitudes that have been disproved and overturned by the rest of society. When Ace finally cracks under all this pressure, we feel for him because we know that he could have been so much more if he'd only gotten out when he had the chance. The plot of The Corn Dog Man is intricately woven and nicely paced. The denouement is logical and intelligently written. The dialogue is superb and Noble Willingham's performance is nothing short of awesome. He makes us feel for Ace, a weak and racist coward, and that's a hell of a thing to do. This is a thoroughly satisfying tale of revenge and suspense that will keep you involved to the very end. Enjoy! |
| User ReviewRichard LInspite of the director being White, this is one of the most racist films ever made against Whites. The characterization is so contrived that it makes a mockery of the theme, as the statement backfires making Blacks searching for White appeasement seem ingeniune. It's a waste of time or, at best, a study in how not to be controversial. |
| User ReviewDavid D02/26/10 1999 Awesome thriller with several twists. If you can get past the incessant phone ringing then this is truly enjoyable. This helps however to show the stress factor not to mention the content of the calls. A definite must see for those who love a good thriller. |
| User ReviewErin ESomeone recommended this movie to us and the 1st time I watched it, I couldn't even finish it. Really strange, quircky movie - one of those where the more you watch it, the better it gets. Noble Willingham is great in this! |
| User ReviewNick Ga dark comedy dealing with the subject of racism in america in a unique and creative way. |
| User ReviewPrivate UIf you want to do yourself a favor, see this movie. |
| User ReviewJabali SThis is the baaadddest revenge movie EVER!! I kid you not!!! But can you handle the process? |
| User ReviewJennifer GMy favorite revenge movie. Parts of this movie are hilarious and parts are disturbing. Great blend. |