Knoxville gets goofy in ‘Daltry Calhoun’

Daltry Calhoun

By Sheri Linden

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – As amorphous as the
vague disease that afflicts one of its characters, “Daltry
Calhoun” aims for whimsy and poignancy and mostly comes up
empty.

Writer-director Katrina Holden Bronson peoples her first
feature with quirky small-town characters — well played by the
cast — but doesn’t know what to do with them. The involvement
of Quentin Tarantino as executive producer won’t forestall a
quick segue to video for the latest item in the Miramax fire
sale.

Johnny Knoxville brings a gentle, goofy sweetness to the
title character, a one-time layabout who has gone legit. Using
what he learned from his cannabis-growing experiments, he has
developed a specialized hybrid grass seed that has made him the
sod king of Ducktown, Tenn. Daltry, who apparently has a
passion for golf — though we don’t see him indulging that
passion until the film is almost over — is eager to use his
fortune to realize his dream project, a deluxe public course.

Calhoun Industries starts going to seed when the miracle
sod proves defective, and all of Ducktown is rooting for the
lovable entrepreneur, especially lonely young widow Flora Flick
(Juliette Lewis). As he tries to save his empire, a flash from
Daltry’s penniless past arrives in the form of May (Elizabeth
Banks) and June (Sophie Traub). When he last saw them 14 years
earlier, May was his teenage girlfriend and June their barely
walking baby. Chased from his family by an angry cousin (Beth
Grant, in shrill hillbilly mode), Daltry has been looking for
them ever since. This central thread, which sets the story,
such as it is, in motion, makes no emotional sense. May, who
didn’t want him to go, also didn’t want him to find her. Now
the struggling single mom is back because she’s dying, but all
she tells Daltry is that they need his support while musician
June prepares for her Juilliard tryout. She also forbids Daltry
from telling June that he’s her father.

All this deception serves no discernible purpose, though
Knoxville has some nice moments as the smitten,
sworn-to-secrecy dad. In the problematic role of May, Banks
lends a fiery fragility, but there’s only so much an actor can
do when stricken with the kind of movie disease whose chief
symptoms are dark circles and meaningful glances.

Individual scenes click, particularly those featuring Lewis
and one in which Kick Gurry, as the Aussie seed expert Daltry
hires, resists the charms of underage June. Newcomer Traub has
real-girl appeal as the soulful teen, who appreciates Marty
Robbins as much as Wu-Tang Clan. But individual scenes do not a
movie make, and “Calhoun” lurches from one to the next with no
direction or momentum, relying on oldies to paper the
narrative. Tennessee locations lend authenticity to the
production, with grass green dominating the design work and
widescreen images. If only the story itself had such coherence.

Cast:

Daltry Calhoun: Johnny Knoxville

Flora Flick: Juliette Lewis

May: Elizabeth Banks

Frankie Strunk: Kick Gurry

Doyle: David Koechner

June: Sophie Traub

Dee: Beth Grant.

Director-screenwriter: Katrina Holden Bronson; Producer:
Danielle Renfrew; Executive producers: Quentin Tarantino, Erica
Steinberg; Director of photography: Matthew Irving; Production
designer: Tracey Gallacher; Music: John Swihart; Co-producer:
Todd S. King; Costume designer: Mynka Draper; Editor: Daniel R.
Padgett.

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter