Vinegar Hill

Ellen and Jake both grew up on farms in Wisconsin, in a community called Grambah. Jake's brother Mitch turned out the way his father wanted, but Jake wanted to be an artist and he never could please his father. In high school, Ellen and Tom were prom queen and king, but Jake wanted to be with Ellen. Ellen and Jake did end up together, and they had two children, Amy and Bert. Jake sold art supplies in Chicago, but now he has lost his job and Ellen has gotten a job teaching at St. Michael's, the school she and Jake graduated from. The children hate the idea of leaving the big city, but until Jake can find a job and the family can afford a house, they will have to live with his parents Fritz and Mary Margaret at "Vinegar Hill". Fritz is still farming and impossible to please, and Mary Margaret copes, trying to hide the fact she is still grieving over the loss of her son. Ellen's best friend from high school is now teaching there, and it's just like the old days again; she's SOOOO excited! Jake ends up having to travel, which puts additional strain on a marriage that is already in trouble. Tom, now the sheriff, has never gotten over Ellen. Jake also meets someone, a beautiful lingerie saleswoman willing to listen. The children learn to deal with their new situation, while Fritz just gets more and more surly and demanding. Mary Margaret's sister Salome is a weird cat lady, though nothing compared to the one on "The Simpsons". There are dark secrets in this community. A serial rapist has never been caught, and something is buried on Vinegar Hill. Don't be misled by the opening. I suppose this could be called a family movie, but it's very dark, and moral standards seem kind of lax; it's hard to believe any of these people go to church, much less attend what appears to be a Christian school (the word Catholic is never used, but there is a "Father Bork" and communion appears to be distributed in the Catholic way). At the very least it would have to be a movie children would watch with their parents. I wouldn't recommend it for young children. Tom Skerritt and Betty Buckley both give very good performances. I suppose the other actors do a good job too. The mysteries turn out to be complicated and interesting, and the ending is satisfying though not particularly pleasant. We knew something bad was coming. It seems like a typical CBS TV-movie from the days when Sundays were movie nights.

This film has two distinctive features: 1. The only film that has ever inspired me to review (albeit because I found it so irritating) 2. Most probably the worst film I have ever seen... and I have seen some real rubbish in my time! Far too many sub-plots going on, including rape, infanticide, domestic violence, unrequited love, the breakdown of marriage, adultery, child psychology, animal brutality, the list goes on. However, none of these issues ever become the main focus, none of them are handled with any depth and all appear to have been pulled out of a box of ideas at random. Considering how hard-hitting any of these themes could be, the fact remains that this film was shown as the afternoon movie on a terrestrial channel, it really is straight-to-TV nonsense. It also boasts some particularly diabolical acting along with a general blandness and lack of direction. I have always championed films that are so bad that they become enjoyable for that very reason. However, this just seemed to get worse and worse with each revelation, each time one member of the couple leaves the other, each time the Grandfather makes a snide remark for the sake of it, each time the daughter rolls her eyes for no apparent reason etc etc. On the plus side, it might make for a good drinking game, if that's not your thing, don't bother!