Herman U.S.A.

The story of the bride fair is an amusing and engaging one, and it is to the filmmaker's credit that he sets out to portray rural Minnesotans with the same respect ordinarily reserved for Coast-dwellers. It is weird, though, to find an independent movie, the brainchild of a single person, that is as unambitious and cliché-ridden as a committee-brewed Hollywood potboiler.

The portrait of rural people is intended to be affectionate, I think, but these characters don't ring true to me--I have had quite a few meals in small-town diners, but never overheard a debate on the merits of different nineteenth-century English novelists. One might suggest that writer/director Semans has no more experience with rural culture than the Coen brothers, and considerably less satiric verve.

This film is the feel good movie of the year. It was very well done and the characters seemed genuine and real. The beautiful scenery added to the warm atmosphere makes even this city girl want to spend her vacation in a small town. All I can add is "Bravo, and Well Done".

This is a pleasant enough movie about a small town full of unmarried guys. They advertise to encourage single girls to visit the town but are overwhelmed by the number who turn up. The movie contains some interesting character studies, but to the average movie goer, it probably paints a poor picture of country folk, especially the men. The is a warts and all look at the town, especially the guys. They seem to be a sorry lot even when the bus loads of women arrive. There is some irony depicted and perhaps we should all look closer at the things we have before looking elsewhere.

I'll say one thing for Herman, USA: it will probably always play well to Minnesota audiences. I can't imagine that there's another place in the world where a reference to the fast life of Bemidji or a line like "I knew there was something wrong with Iowa guys" would bring down the house. I actually quite enjoyed the first hour or so. Basically, a bunch of lonely country boys take out a personals ad and find their town beset with willing female suitors (is suitors a gender-specific word?). It ain't progressive, to be sure, but it's sorta charming in its own right. Pity that the filmmakers felt the need to tack on a contrived subplot about a conniving golddigger and her violent husband. Overall it's just too cloying for its own good, but you've got to give some props to a film with the guts to give a guy with Kevin Chamberlin's build a nude love scene. I will always applaud the depiction of people who don't meet the usual standards of beauty as sexual, caring human beings, but that's not enough to redeem Herman, USA. To paraphrase Jello Biafra, it's nostalgia for an age that never existed.

While a notch above the movies that Don Knotts used to do, back in the 1960's, this fictionalized account of a true incident has the same sort of "small town" appeal which once filled drive-in movies with rows of pick-up trucks. As a whole, the movie isn't notable, but it has a number of good parts, both in terms of dialog and acting, and it leaves you with the kind of warm-and-fuzzy feeling you don't often find in movies these days.