Feeling Minnesota (1996)

An ex-convict and his bumbling crook brother fight for the same woman.

Director:

Steven Baigelman

Writer:

Steven Baigelman

Stars:

Keanu Reeves, Cameron Diaz, Vincent D'Onofrio

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Keanu Reeves	...	Jjaks Clayton
Cameron Diaz	...	Freddie Clayton
Vincent D'Onofrio	...	Sam Clayton
Delroy Lindo	...	Red
Dan Aykroyd	...	Det. Ben Costikyan
Courtney Love	...	Rhonda the Waitress
Drew Desmarais	...	Young Jjaks Clayton
Tuesday Weld	...	Nora Clayton
Aaron Michael Metchik	...	Young Sam Clayton
Russell Konstans	...	Joseph
David Alan Smith	...	Detective Lloyd
Bill Schoppert	...	Minister
Steve Ghizoni	...	Wedding Band Singer
Jack Walsh	...	Bob, at Gas Station
Buffy Sedlachek	...	Gas Station Attendant

Storyline

Freddie is a former stripper marrying Sam to repay a debt owed to nightclub owner Red. But Freddie is in love with Jjaks, Sam's brother. Jjaks and Freddie run off together, and Sam finds where they have been hiding and calls the cops. Meanwhile someone calls to blackmail Sam and Jjaks. In the end will it all work out?

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Plot Keywords:

title based on song | family relationships | bride | photo booth | corruption | 

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Taglines:

Just when she met the man of her dreams, along came her husband to ruin everything.

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for violence, sexuality and language

Details

Official Sites:

Fine Line Features

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 September 1996 (USA)

Also Known As:

A Mulher do Meu Irmão

Filming Locations:

Warner Road, St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

Box Office

Opening Weekend:

$1,598,051 (USA) (13 September 1996)

Gross:

$3,102,672 (USA) (4 October 1996)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Fine Line Features, Jersey Films, Minnesota U.S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

99 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital SDDS

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Feeling Minnesota's title was inspired by some lyrics in the Soundgarden song 'Outshined': "I just looked in the mirror/And things ain't looking so good/I'm looking California/And feeling Minnesota"

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Goofs

In the scene where Freddie and Jjaks are in the bathroom during the wedding, they are standing in front of the mirror talking and her dress keeps moving on and off her shoulders during the whole scene.

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Quotes

Jjaks Clayton: You ate my ear. You killed your wife. You framed me for it. And you're mad at me because I lied?

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Connections

Referenced in Be Kind Rewind (2008)

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Soundtracks

"Ring of Fire"
Written by June Carter Cash and Merle Kilgore
Performed by Bob Dylan

User Reviews

Unusual drama with plenty of points of interest, but also its fair share of problems.

Most films starring Keanu Reeves or Cameron Diaz are a safe bet for a big Hollywood blockbuster. This one stars both, yet is a rather low-profile affair which many poeple won't have heard of. Ironically, Reeves gives one of the best performances of his career because he isn't asked to play a one-dimensional man of action. Diaz is eye-opening too, as a foul-mouthed girl trapped in a dead-end existence.

The story tells of a young, aimless ex-con named Jacks Clayton (Reeves) who returns to the uninviting Minnesota town of his birth at the request of his mother (Tuesday Weld). She wants him there for the wedding of his elder brother Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio). However, when Jacks arrives he realises straight away that there's something rather fishy about the wedding. It turns out that Sam's bride Freddy (Diaz) has no desire to get married at all (she's only doing it because a nasty local gangster has bullied her into it). Before the wedding party is even over, Jacks has had sex with Freddy in the toilets; before the week is out, the pair have eloped intending to start over in Las Vegas. Suffice to say, Sam is pretty annoyed by what young Jacks has done....

Feeling Minnesota is a gritty, occasionally funny drama which benefits from its unfamiliar setting. Within its own admittedly twisted logic, the film's odd narrative works reasonably well. However, the characters are so amoral that it becomes hard to care what happens to any of them - including the supposed hero Jacks (who would make a fitting bad guy in most other pictures). The amount of coarse language is rather jarring too. You don't need to find swearing offensive to notice it, but if coarse language does bother you then it's safe to say that you'll be offended by the quantity of it in this film. The plot twists and turns in a very unpredictable manner, and makes for an interesting - if not entirely believable - experience.