User Reviews

The Cracker Man is a sweet little independent film whose main allure is the languid midsummer in rural Alabama. I just saw it on Alabama Public Television. The plot is bare - a pretty loner hires a firecracker salesman to shoot fireworks for her great-grandfather's 100th birthday; disaster and romance ensue. Dialog suffers from Southern Writer's Syndrome: grandpa just spouts military jargon from the War, heroine talks aloud to livestock, etc. The actors appear to be a mix of talented amateurs and locals. BUT, the film is worth seeing just for the gorgeous exteriors of the rural deep south. It won't change your life, but it sure is pretty.

I loved THE CRACKER MAN. It's a terrific, leisurely-paced 'tweener' film--too long to be a short, too short to be a feature. When it was over, my wife and I were wonderfully satisfied--and we wanted more.

It's the Fourth of July in the Depression-impoverished Deep South, and Gloria (Ashley Crow, in a star-making performance) is getting her Grandpa (Patrick Cranshaw), a frail but feisty Civil War Veteran, ready for his 100th birthday party that night. It'll be an intimate affair at their run-down farm--just the two of them, they're alone in the world. Gloria is looking for something really special (that she can afford, which isn't much) for Grandpa's Centennial, and she finds it from a likeable stranger named Hank (John Dossett) who's hawking fireworks by the roadside. They strike a deal for a 'custom-made pyrotechnic display' at the farm that night.

The one-hour running time delivers a gorgeous 30's Southern ambience and resonant, rich performances by the three principal actors. It's got fierce tenderness, humor, irony, and simple human decency--a family film. It's a gem.