Not even bad in a good way

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Michael T. WIESS has doggy style sex with Rosanna ARQUETTE. Michael WIESS of "PRETENDER" fame has back-door hate-sex with MILFy Rosanna ARQUETTE. And in like the first 30 seconds of the film. That should be more than enough to give this film a good watching. Anyhow a guy gets out of jail or something comes home and finds out his old place is now a burned out METH- LAB. He starts sampling some of the left over's telling his girl "You're hot and young, of course you should be doing meth." He goes to visit mom who's in cahoots with the local parole officer to have her son killed for the insurance money. Mind you his girl friend happens to be the daughter of the local sad-sack Sheriff. So the young couple goes from doing meth, getting addicted to meth, and then making their own meth. Then they get the bright idea to sell it, which adds fuel to the fire. Because now they have to associate with characters outside they're comfort zone. They also have to stay up three days partying until you run out; they're staying up for weeks on end cooking the never-ending supply, to meet demand. The never-ending demand.

"Iowa", the movie, premiered in New York City at the TriBeCa Film Festival on Monday night. The movie addresses the scourge of the methamphetamine (aka crystal meth, crank, speed) plague that is ravaging Iowa and many rural states; however, in no way does the movie glamorize crystal meth or its users, abusers, addicts, or manufacturers. Iowa graphically shows the horrors of the dead-end street named crystal meth. Iowa should be mandatory viewing for all high school seniors, who would certainly be "scared straight". At the same time, Iowa makes a powerful statement against the so-called War on Drugs, where Draconian punishments have only fostered the growth of a fungal industry of private prisons, drug-testing companies, and other parasites.Iowa was filmed on location in Centerville, Iowa, and environs. In his youth, Farnsworth visited Centerville to see his grandparents, the late Beryl and Thelma Farnsworth, and was stunned witnessing the hellish degradation crystal meth had wrought on the bucolic community. The movie features many scenes from the Centerville Square ("the world's largest square"), the streets and alleys of Centerville, the reservoir, Lake Rathbun, Mystic, and the countryside, as well as the appearance of many local denizens as extras.The TriBeCa Film Festival was created by Robert Di Nero and associates in 2002, primarily to bring life back to lower Manhattan after 9/11. "TriBeCa" refers to the triangle below Canal Street, and lies near the southern tip of Manhattan. The movie theatre sits catty-corner from the old World Trade Center site. Walking west on Vesey Street, one passes a huge hole, several square blocks in area, the remains of the WTC towers and the place where 3,000 innocents were slaughtered on September 11, 2001. The sky was spitting some frozen pellets of precipitation on April 25, as a cold wind blew off the water. A few gin martinis followed by a steak dinner helped to ward off the chill.Yet no bracer in the world could prepare a viewer for the full-bore assault that is Iowa, the movie. Quentin Tarantino, move over; there's a new sheriff in town. Matt Farnsworth, the writer, director, and star of Iowa, makes Quentin Tarantino look like a little girl dressed in pink ribbons and bows with frilly ruffles on her underpants. The comparison most often heard after the movie was to Tarantino, director of Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, and the Kill Bill flicks, but there is far more depth to Farnsworth's work, and this makes it soar high above Tarantino's.While comparisons were also made to David Lynch, especially in his symbolism and his ability to frame pictures of idyllic small-town life interspersed with scenes of dystopian debauchery and depravity, Farnsworth's closest similarities lie with a New Yorker. Farnsworth is something of a Plains Woody Allen, both in his multifaceted roles (multitasking, in the current lingo) and in his abilities to capture the zeitgeist of a certain place and time and to delineate characters of the moment—but only if Allen had testosterone oozing from every pore, snorted a quarter-ounce of crank up his nose, and sported the handsome visage of wholesome milk ad model.Farnsworth stars in the movie as Esper Harte, a young Iowa man struggling to keep food on the table and a roof over his head. Esper, whose father has died recently, is the beneficiary of a $200,000 life insurance policy that he will receive if his father was not on drugs at the time of his death. Esper is dating Donna (Diane Foster), whose father is the insurance agent responsible for investigating Esper's father's death. Esper hopes to take the money, marry Donna, and, together, leave Iowa to find greener pastures. Esper and Donna's labors to protect their love form the core of the plot of the movie.Farnsworth, who may be known to some viewers from his TV work on 7th Heaven, gives a performance that is tour de force; he clearly is the "next big thing" to come from Hollywood. Foster shows a luminous presence that captures a viewer's full attention whenever she's on the screen, yet she is not just a pretty face, and displays the full gamut of emotions through her facial expressions. Michael T. Weiss is outstandingly evil as Larry Clarkson, a corrupt and sadistic parole officer. Amanda Tepe is a bewitching drug-and-sex fiend. Other notable performances include those of Rosanna Arquette as Esper's mother and John Savage as Donna's father. Andrew Parke, the director of photography, deserves special mention for his loving pictures of southern Iowa.The audience in New York City, a "tough" audience if any ever were, audibly gasped at the movie's shocking denouement, and then applauded enthusiastically at the movie's conclusion. As the lights went up, we saw that Farnsworth and Foster were in the audience, and they were soon swarmed with well-wishers and glad-handers.Iowa is a movie that will haunt your daydreams and nightmares for years to come. Every scene, every word, every note, rings true. Iowa is a movie you must see.

The wonderful efforts of Matt Farnsworth are to be applauded. It is crucial that people become aware of this epidemic problem, which is exactly what Meth use is- It is a horrible world to get into, and Matt Farnsworth recognized this, as upon returning to his hometown, he was shocked by the addiction, destruction, and devastation he saw around him. Yes, it is Rural Iowa, USA- Yes, it is a huge problem in the 'ol Hawkeye State. I am a former user- a "Soccer Mom", and it is indescribable to tell those what this dark world is about. Mr. Farnsworth's film could only show his rendition in this movie the best he could- He researched intensely to make this film, and this movie was shown in an intelligent way, as best it could be. The addiction is very difficult to represent by actors, but, this young, bright man valiantly did all he could to show an account of a real family. I've been there- done that. Been clean for over 4 years, and am counseling gals who have hit rock bottom- Their stories are ugly- shocking- devastating. Everybody has a story- and hats off to Mr. Farnsworth for his attempts to allow the Movie Audience to see what this world is all about. It is a huge task to take the viewer into a world they've never known- Perhaps it is "an individual you know", or a family member, a parent, a child. Methamphetamine use is rampant in this country- The title of this movie- "Iowa" - is offensive to those from the Hawkeye State- but, folks, it is time to wake up- this problem is in epidemic ratios- It is getting worse. This movie is just a "taste" of what the "druggie" world is about. There are so many stories- so many lives shattered- this "drug of the devil" takes much (sometimes all) away from those who find themselves lost in this world. Iowa is a wonderful beautiful State, but, it is also a drug haven of Meth Users. Thanks to Matt Farnsworth for the eye opener. I have taken this drug out of my life- a former user- from the Hawkeye State. I pray this Movie will assist someone out there in breaking the chains, and get out of this horrible lifestyle. At best, I do pray that somebody who has a loved one who is using can benefit from this Film by becoming educated on this wonderful piece of work about such a bad topic. This is far from a comedy, folks. It is a story of tragedy, hopelessness, and the measures addicts take to obtain methamphetamine- cooking meth is one common way for addicts to "gain their gold". Take heed, this is a film that the viewer must pay attention to, as, this is not as "out there" as some critics think! GOD BLESS YOU MATT FARNSWORTH- KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK!

"Iowa" wants to be "Requiem for a Dream" for Midwest meth, but it comes across as a hard R rated "Reefer Madness". Yes, drugs are bad, and meth is horribly pernicious, as an addiction and how it destroys people, families and communities. But these characters who are either dumb or ridiculous and the eye-rolling plot won't teach that lesson to anyone. While writer/director/star Matt Farnsworth has some charisma on screen, his partner Diane Foster plays a wincibly silly wide-eyed innocent corrupted by drugsas was already satirized by Susan Sarandon in "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". I really felt sorry for her for all the totally unnecessary nudity she was put through. It wasn't until the end of the film that I realized I was supposed to think these two were recent high-school graduates to explain some of their naiveté, as we are bombarded by their school photos, but if so, they even looked older than the folks on "The O.C.". While they have good chemistry on screen, they are a pale imitation of a "Badlands"-type couple. The guest stars are badly used. Michael T. Weiss, who was so good in TV's "The Pretender", is completely ludicrous as a corrupt parole officer and his brutal violence is just plain crazy, as his character pretty much ruins any social significance for the film. Rosanna Arquette has to be even sleazier than she rolled around for David Cronenberg as a very low rent Livia Soprano. John Savage even has to mouth the old baby boomer excuses about I did pot but this is worse. A Goth chick shows up, with the odd explanation that she's a stripper from Des Moines. The obligatory Latino drug dealer appears - in Iowa? With a limited budget, the interior view of meth use is portrayed quite vividly, with quite scary hallucinations. We certainly see them go crazy. While the Iowa locations are used very well (including an amusing scene of a propane gas robbery), the accents and church references are confusingly Southern Baptist. Guns seem to be used by law abiding and law breaking citizens here more than in any inner-city drug-dealing movie.The songs of Iowa's best known bard Greg Brown are used throughout, but oddly are not listed in the credits. I hope they were used with permission.I caught this at its commercial run in NYC because I missed it at the Tribeca Film Festival where it got considerable-- and inexplicable-- buzz.