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Home Movie
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Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Binding: DVD
EAN: 9780780026858
Format: Color, DVD-Video, NTSC
ISBN: 0780026853
Label: Merchant Ivory
Languages: English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
Manufacturer: Merchant Ivory
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: Merchant Ivory
Region Code: 1
Release Date: August 19, 2003
Running Time: 65 minutes
Studio: Merchant Ivory
Theatrical Release Date: 2001
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Editorial Review:
In the tradition of Errol Morris's Fast, Cheap, & Out of Control, Chris Smith's documentary Home Movie offers several short portraits of real-life, far-out folks. This particular group of rule-breakers has in common the unusual dwellings they've chosen to call home. Meet the burly fellow with a Cajun accent living happily on a floating shack in Lousiana; the white-haired inventor in Illinois who's created a Jetsons-style electronic home; a Kansas couple who've turned a missile silo into a hippie haven; a California duo who give new meaning to the phrase Cat Fancy; and an aging cult film star who has retreated to a tree house in the jungles of Hawaii.
Smith's previous documentary, American Movie, succeeds because he takes his time introducing us to his subject. Over the course of that film the audience moves from laughing at the eccentricities of a lower-than-low-budget horror moviemaker to cheering him on. In Home Movie, however, the crowd of subjects--intriguing though it may be--is simply too large for us to grow terribly attached to any of them. Smith's fondness for each homeowner shines through, but we aren't given enough time to share his affection. It's as if just when we're getting to know our new neighbors they head back inside and close the door. --Brangien Davis
Home Movie is Chris Smith's loving look at five extraordinary homes and the charming, bizarre people who inhabit them. Smith (American Movie) interweaves their stories in a way that makes the audience think about the meaning of home and the place of the individual in society. Smith delights in the eccentricities of these unique characters in much the same way that he did in American Movie, and connects their stories into a mosaic of American ingenuity and architectural possibility. Cajun Bill Tregle instructs us on the "do's and don'ts" of alligator upkeep from his bayou houseboat. Ben Skora's electronic home in suburban Chicago, where even the most mundane household items take on a life of their own. Bob Walker and Frances Mooney's cats are given the ultimate playground in America, a creation of rat effigies and cat freeways. Japanese cult actress Linda Beech takes us into her "tree house" nestled in the Hawaiian rain forest with water cascading around her. A missile silo near Topeka, Kansas becomes a New Age refuge for a very soft-spoken couple.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Admirable, independent-minded eccentrics and their homes
Food for thought in this engaging brief documentary covering four unusual homes and their owners. Recommended viewing; just a bit thin on substance and a bit made-for-TV. $18? It's a one hour show.
Rating:  - We're All A Little Quirky...
My husband and I watched this movie for the first time last night. He always picks on me about bringing home "weird movies", though he actually seemed to enjoy this one along with me. We both agreed we liked the nuclear missile home the best, but would love to know and visit the Alligator guy as a friend.
I am fascinated with those that are just a bit "off". Not weird, not crazy... just those that live their life just doing their own thing no matter what anyone "normal" would think. ... Read More
Rating: - fine, but nothing really special here in this derivative doc
Chris Smith is certainly a competent filmmaker, and shows in American Movie and in The Yes Men an ability to both take his subject seriously and with respect, while at the same time making a very funny movie. The same thing applies to this film, but in this case the people who he showcases are just not as interesting, but merely "out there" or "quirky." So you walk away from each segment thinking wow that was strange, but interesting enough. But you don't walk away inspired. However misguided ... Read More
Rating: - I wish this movie wasn't sooooooo short!
I really loved parts of this movie alot. Especially the Gator Guy, the Cat Freaks, and the Future Guy. However, an hour dedicated to five diffrent homes and their owners is not enough. American Movie is one of my all time favorite films .. this film gave me a very short Chris Smith fix. If this film was an hour or more longer or if it was just focused on my 3 favorite homes/owners I would have bumped up my rating to a 4 and possibly even a 5.
Rating: - ...and about the Judas Priest documentary
The Judas Priest documentary the other reviewer mentioned is Heavy Metal Parking Lot by Jeff Krulik. It's not available on Amazon, or any mass market vendor, unfortunately, but you can read about it, and about his other films, at his website. (Google 'Krulik') I recommend the 'Krulik and Friends' compilation tape, if you can find it. Both Chris Smith films and Krulik's films are documentaries with offbeat humor and a collection of oddball people as subjects, which are treated with love in the final ... Read More
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