Killer Diller (2004)

Director:

Tricia Brock

Writers (WGA):

Clyde Edgerton (novel)
Tricia Brock (screenplay)

Genre:

Drama | Music

Tagline:

Trouble brought them together. The music set them free.

Plot:

A guitar playing car thief meets an autistic savant piano player, and together they transform a group of reluctant halfway house convicts into The Killer Diller Blues Band. |

Plot Keywords:

Blues | Piano Player | Guitar | Aspiring Musician | Jared Tyler

Awards:

1 win

Cast

William Lee Scott	...	Wesley
Lucas Black	...	Vernon
Fred Willard	...	Ned
John Michael Higgins	...	Deermont
W. Earl Brown	...	Holister
Taj Mahal	...	J.R. Cox
Mary Kay Place	...	Dr. Gwen Bradley
Robert Wisdom	...	Moker
Ashley Johnson	...	Angie
Niki J. Crawford	...	Shanita
RonReaco Lee	...	Ben
Lawrence Lowe	...	Lonnie
Jared Tyler	...	Raymond
Davenia McFadden	...	Deputy Rhodell Larkin
Matt Clark	...	Barge Captain

Also Known As:

Bottleneck (USA) (working title)
Rockin' the House (USA) (TV title)

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for some language.

Runtime:

USA:95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

USA:PG-13

Company:

Bulwark Entertainment

Trivia:

Niki J. Crawford (Shanita) on vocals, and 'Lawrence Lowe' (Lonnie) on drums, played all the musical parts themselves.

Movie Connections:

Remake of The Car Kid (2002)

Soundtrack:

Judge Boushay's Blues

"8 Mile" + "Rainman" + the blues + a lot of water = "Killer Diller"

I saw this at SXSW 2004 and must say it was one of the most terrible films i had the displeasure of seeing at the festival.

The story follows a young delinquent blues guitarist named Wesley who lands himself in a Baptist halfway house after getting in a barfight over a woman and his guitar. He is forced to play crappy Gospel music with a bunch of bandmembers who hate him, until he starts sneaking a little blues into their setlist. This isn't without the help of Verne, an autistic piano virtuoso named Vernon who drives an invisible car and has a sheltering father. Not only does Wesley have to earn the respect of Vernon's father and the band, get past Vernon's jam session inhibiting disorder, but he also has to deal with the band director's hatred of the devil's music: the blues.

Vernon is the wind up monkey in this movie, his social disorder turned into a quirky little personality trait that produces great comic one liners and a voice reminiscent of Billy Bob Thornton in Sling Blade. The serious issue of autism is delt with in the most dismissive and objectifying manner, and will offend some, but probably entertain many.

This movie has next to no character development, most apparent in that of this legendary black guitarist who we are to assume is the deceased mentor of Wesley and previous owner of the guitar that means so much to him. He appears in the credits, and is never mentioned (unless you want to include a brief visit to his gravestone).

This movie is cheesy beyond all recognition, and painfully predictable. The acting is at best not spectacular, and the story is beyond cliche

There are a few redeeming aspects of this movie, well two to be specific: the music in the film (props to Keb Mo and Tree Adams), and the hotness of Niki J Crawford. But sadly this isn't enough to sway me to give this terrible film a 5.