Based on a true story. What an amazing, actually true story. Not just the saga of Percy Schmeiser, a Saskatchewan farmer on the wrong side of Monsanto, but the thousands of farmers forced to settle with the large conglomerate.
The story is a true David-Goliath saga (Percy is also known as Percy vs. Goliath). Monsanto would be an exaggerated villain if the company didn't exist.
The problem with the Percy film is that the dialogue is so terrible. Yea, yea, you've said that about other films. The New Romantic dialogue was terrible but not on this level.
Christopher Walken can clearly act though the script making good acting rather difficult. Walken feels like a really poor choice for this character but that feels low on the list of complaints.
Fellow American actors Christina Ricci and Zach Braff feel out of place as well. They, along with Walken, do their best. The scene where Ricci's character orders in a diner is best found in Stereotypes 101. Braff's character has a cane, not known if that is based on the actual lawyer character or an offbeat add to the film.
Roberta Maxwell plays Louise Schmeiser, Percy's wife. Maxwell, one of the few Canadians in the cast, has the most awkward, terrible dialogue in the whole film, which is saying something.
Garfield Lindsay Miller and Hilary Pyror wrote the film. We don't know why the dialogue is this terrible, cringeworthy even.
The relatively good part about Percy? The film doesn't waste time in the beginning with an elaborate open. We pretty much are there at the beginning with the start of the story. The film is a blow-by-blow essence of the actual story. We apparently aren't here for character development, except for when Percy buys a large tractor in the beginning of the film.
Clark Johnson, a fine Canadian actor, has directed a few feature films and a lot of television, directed this film. The direction is okay. Not much you can do with the script. Not sure Charles Officer, who directed Johnson in Nurse.Fighter.Boy, could save this film.
If you can get past the dialogue and if you don't know the story, please watch this film. That may seem contradictory but the story is that important. Glyphosate, the primary ingredient in Roundup, is a disaster to the American and Canadian farming industry. You may know the phrase GMO; you will learn a lot more about it in the film.
Canadian actors Luke Kirby and Adam Beach have brief appearances. They have been in much better projects on both sides of the border.
You feel like Monsanto came in and rewrote the script so people won't know this story. Given what Monsanto did and has done, that sounds rather plausible.
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Your humble narrator would argue that the story of Percy Schmeiser would make an excellent documentary. Explaining the whole Monsanto nightmare requires that level of concentration. Some people who need to know the story might prefer the storytelling motive of a feature film.
Having large names such as Christopher Walken, Christina Ricci, and Zach Braff draws more attention than a documentary. Some of that potential audience might not care that the dialogue is as terrible as it is. Percy is made for this subsection of a subsection. You will learn. Entertained? Not as likely.
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Percy is available on Crave in Canada and on demand in the United States.
video credit: YouTube/Mongrel Media
photo credit: Percy
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