The Smell of Success (2009)

A comedy about manure salesmen in 1960s heartland America.

Director:

Michael Polish (as Larry Smith)

Writers:

Mark Polish, Michael Polish

Stars:

Billy Bob Thornton, Téa Leoni, Mark Polish

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Billy Bob Thornton	...	Patrick
Téa Leoni	...	Rosemary Rose
Mark Polish	...	Thaddeus Young
Ed Helms	...	Chet Pigford
Kyle MacLachlan	...	Jimmy St. James
Pruitt Taylor Vince	...	Cleveland Clod
Frances Conroy	...	Agnes May
Jon Gries	...	Early Dunchamp
Richard Edson	...	Nelly the Nose
D.W. Moffett	...	Agent Chestnut
Scott Michael Campbell	...	Mr. Diehl
Patrick Bauchau	...	Mr. Rose
Aria Alpert Adjani	...	Mrs. Smith (as Aria Alpert)
David A. Cooper	...	Miracle Worker #1
Erin O'Shaughnessy	...	Mrs. Diehl

Storyline

When a tragic accident ends the life of Mr. Rose, the genius behind Rose's Manure Company, the livelihood of its loyal fleet of salesmen threatens to go, as they say, into the toilet. Enter estranged daughter Rosemary, a high-class- cosmetics salesgirl, who steps in to take control. She is not sure she has a nose for the family business, but she is determined to make foul into profit. Little does she know that a ruthless, slick-talking fertilizer rep is plotting a takeover. Whether she likes it or not, she must trust her top salesman, Patrick Fitzpatrick, to devise a plan to regain Rose's rightful position on top of the heap.

---

Plot Keywords:

manure | salesman | female business owner | year 1963 | 

---

Taglines:

Don't Hold Your Breath!

---

Genres:

Comedy

---

Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated PG-13 for crude and sexual content, language and a drug situation

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 January 2009 (USA)

Also Known As:

Manure

Filming Locations:

Melody Ranch - 24715 Oak Creek Avenue, Newhall, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$9,600,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Initiate Productions, Stander Productions

Technical Specs

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Quotes

[first lines]
Agent Chestnut: [switches on recorder] Agent Chestnut, Federal Trade Commission interview. Please state your full name.
Patrick: Patrick Fitzpatrick.
Agent Chestnut: Mr. Fitzpatrick, were you aware of the financial difficulties at Rose's manure?
Patrick: No.
Agent Chestnut: Really? Because by all accounts and sales records, Mr. Rose considered *you* his Number 2. And you want me to believe Mr. Rose never mentioned it?
Patrick: Never.
Agent Chestnut: Well, you will not be allowed to operate or sell anything until I have competed my investigation.

---

Soundtracks

Tu n'y es pour rien
Music by Jean Custeau
Lyrics by Johanne Rondeau
Performed by Sylvie Royer

User Reviews

Insert whatever excremental pun you can think of

Anyone that has seen a movie by Mark and Michael Polish should come to expect something unusual. Their latest film, Manure, delivers in spades (yeah, that was a pun). Actually, this movie might best be seen under the influence of drugs. Being straight and sober, I'm not sure I appreciated it. Or understood it. Or perhaps I fell asleep and dreamt this.

Starring Billy Bob Thornton and Tea Leoni, the story is about a woman living in New York (Rosemary Rose) who inherits her father's manure company after his untimely passing. Thornton is the lead salesman (Patrick). Together they try to save the company from bankruptcy. That's the sane part.

Here's the silly stuff: Unfortunately, making Rose Manure profitable involves selling a lot of s___ (only one of maybe 200 excrement jokes and puns in the movie). And there's no better bulls____ than Patrick (trust me, they never stop).

No, no, that was the sane part. This is what's zany: Turns out there's new competition in the form of a chemical fertilizer company entering the market, actually by parachuting in countless crates of chemical fertilizers as well as black-suited salesmen who land carrying briefcases.

Hold it, that's still pretty tame compared to the psychedelic mushrooms they eat which causes them to vomit voluminously onto one another and hallucinate, or dressing up the Rose salesmen as Indians to burn at the stake, or the 48 Triple-D breasts one of the salesmen grows when he eats some fertilizer, or the vegetable masks. And there's plenty more where that came from.

The plot is as silly as you can imagine, and like all the acting (except Thornton), way over the top. The sets typically include backdrops, with everything (EVERYTHING) in various shades of brown. You could not conceive of a more ridiculous movie. Which would be perfect if you were in the right mood (know what I mean?). But passing joints is not allowed at Sundance screenings, so most of the crowd was left shaking their heads and wondering what it was they just witnessed.

Notes from Sundance The cast was all present on opening night. Thornton and Leoni were sitting right in front of me. They were both very gracious with fans, allowing their photos to be taken and being great sports. After the movie, Thornton was very funny and clever. But the Q&A quickly fizzled. The audience was too shell-shocked to think of intelligent questions. And no one had the audacity to ask Mark and Michael Polish what was on everyone's mind: "What the heck were you guys thinking?!!!"