By: debbie lynn elias
Whenever a filmmaker or writer can create characters and develop a dynamic that strikes a chord with comparison to Arthur Miller, it’s relatively safe to say they’ve done something right. Such is the case with AT ANY PRICE. Although not a perfect film, writer/director Ramin Bahrani hits all the right notes with tonal and thematic elements that harken to the generational conflicts of Miller’s Willy and Biff Loman while being topical and speaking to the very agro-political heart of America, all woven into the fabric of a complex story steeped in moral ambiguity with flawed and conflicted characters.
With a backdrop of America’s heartland, Iowa corn country, AT ANY PRICE touches the surface of an issue front and center in America today – genetic modification of seeds and the seemingly antiquated idea of generational farming and family farming versus modern industrialization and the big business of farming today- all told through the eyes of the Whipple family, and particularly Henry and his son Dean.
The Whipple farm has been around for five generations. Passed to Henry by his demanding and opinionated father, Cliff, as with most sons, Henry still wants nothing more to impress his dad with his business acumen. He also wants to develop a bigger legacy and bigger farm with his sons by his side. Unfortunately, the eldest prodigal golden-haired child has left home to escape the small town Iowa life (and undoubtedly, Henry) leaving the other, Dean, still at home. Dean, however, has no interest in the farm or farming and wants only to capitalize on his stock car driving talents and escape Iowa, “Whipple & Sons” and Henry, thus causing more than friction between Henry and Dean.
Driving himself and the family farm ever forward with the motto “Expand Or Die”, there is seemingly no line that Henry won’t cross in his march to success. With thousands of acres of prime corn fields, some of which is grown with GMO seeds, Henry – as the majority of farmers – are also seed salesmen, setting the stage for fierce competition and rivalry amongst the farmers and calling into play the process of long established process of seed cleaning and re-sale, illegal with patented GMO seeds as it is a patent infringement. Needless to say, like the very growth of a corn crop, everything can, and will, come to a surprising and explosive head and, at what price.
And what of Dean’s ambition and dream to move on and move out? What happens when push comes to shove and his father’s way of life becomes threatened? What price will Dean have to pay?
Somebody was channeling Jerry Lee Lewis, that’s for sure! As Henry Whipple, Dennis Quaid’s cocky animated facial expressions (which work well for the snake oil persona as a seed salesman) were exactly what he delivered as Jerry Lee Lewis and which goes through the roof here, setting the tone for who Whipple is at his core. He has no scruples. No moral conscience. Yet, he loves his family to no end – but it’s a mythical bunch he’s built up in his mind as to who wants them to be, not who they are. He sees what he wants to see and applies his own skewed morality and rationalizations to every action and deed. He helps his son as a way to buy his son. He has no qualms about re-selling GMO seed. It’s all about the bottom line. Quaid so infuses Whipple with egomaniacal immorality that it’s a wonder the corn oil isn’t oozing out of his pores. He draws you in, sliding you into Henry and his world on a slick of corn oil. Brilliant performance.
According to Quaid, “I read the script and it hit me as a very compelling story, number one. Henry is a very complex character, one that I never really played before…There was a fear factor going into it, in fact, of being able to capture this person. But Ramin had written such a good script. . .I was really struck by the kind of movies that [Bahrani] made which reminded me of movies that I cut my teeth on in the 70’s when there was the anti-hero and films were being made by major studios at that time which were really about people. There’s a story going that’s a very compelling story, but at the same time reflects these bigger ideas about what’s going in America and also in the world without having an agenda and preaching at you about it.”
Without a doubt, this is the best performance to date by Zac Efron. As Dean, he delivers a solid arc that is captured with both emotion and physical performance. He rises and falls with honest expression, honest action and reaction. He resonates. His chemistry with Quaid is electrifyingly toxic and just takes the film to another level with the father-son issues. And of course, from a story standpoint, his character of Dean at the end just wraps around into the cyclic storm of farming and family farming at that. Well written character, well crafted storyline, well performed. And dare I say reminiscent of James Dean? According to Quaid, “Zac really turns in an incredible performance. It’s something we’ve never seen from him before. . .He’s really, I think, a great actor and he can do so much in silence even.”
A new face to watch is Maika Monroe. As Dean’s girlfriend Cadence, she is the glue, the connective tissue that fills in the audience and informs them on GMOs and the base problems with seed sales and with fathers and sons. Cadence is essentially our narrator. Monroe brings us a fresh-faced, free-spirited, casual, naive honesty. (And what great name for her – Cadence – as she is the rhythmic storyteller and muse.) Similarly, Chelcie Ross and Red West as Byron and Cliff Whipple, respectively. Described by co-star Quaid as “great actors”, these men are the elder statesmen. Ethical. Moral. And caught in the fallout of changing times.
There are so many sacrificial lambs within the character and story construct which go far in developing the film’s metaphoric commentary, however, interesting is that the two “lambs” who don’t garner any sympathy are Dennis Quaid’s Whipple and his mistress Heather Graham’s Meredith. Although Henry does love his family, his ego gets in the way of that which when mixed with Meredith, results in a pair of self-centered and somewhat despicable characters with no moral compass. The pairing precludes any sympathy or empathy for either and any plight which befalls them, particularly Meredith as she has an affair not only with Henry, but with his son Dean, as well. Needless to say, Graham delivers a seductive toughness while, as already stated, Quaid really sells Henry as a man with no scruples, which speaks volumes as to his performance.
Directed by Ramin Bahrani and co-written by Bahrani and Hallie Elizabeth Newton, AT ANY PRICE is grounded in metaphoric commentary and analogy thanks to sturdy story construct with multiple threads, paralleling and intertwining, pushing the audience to think and dig below the surface, looking at the roots of the film. Well crafted, the seamless interlocutory plot points and story execution ultimately all come together for a final payoff. Notable is that this is not “an agenda driven film” as socio-political commentary is wonderfully explanatory but not preachy, thus allowing the audience to arrive at its own conclusions on the efficacy and benefits of GMOs. The father-son dynamic and storyline, which is the heart of the film, works to perfection thanks to setting the film in the heartland of America, making this a grounded, multi-generational farming family tied to the earth by its very roots. It’s an age old story that has played out for centuries but is more evident and obvious in this thematic dynamic.
Leaving no stone unturned, w/d Bahrani truly makes this a multi-generational film with his story and casting, providing us multiple generational perspectives as to what’s going on. He leaves nothing to chance for us to misinterpret or not understand the underlying facts and emotional plateaus that give rise to the story as a whole and in its individual thematic elements. Giving credit to the script for the full-bodied characters and the multi-generational ties, Quaid notes, “It was all there in the story to begin with. Henry is conflicted. He has this farm that’s been passed down to him from his dad who got it from his dad and now wants to pass it on to his son and his son really has his own dream; doesn’t want it. And we’re at conflict.”
Visually, AT ANY PRICE is a stunner. Incorporating his own awe at the openness and wonder of the region, Bahrani celebrates the wide open spaces, clean, fresh air, blue sky, sun, bright green of field after field of yellow corn. Everything is picture perfect setting the stage with a visual dichotomy for the parallax of horrors that lie beneath this pristine exterior. The senses embrace the open clarity of the visuals, giving one a wonderful level of enjoyable comfort lulled into a false sense of security, while the consciousness is then assaulted with the events and dialogue taking place under guise of the beauty, creating a contemplative reflection of truth. Cinematographer Michael Simmonds does wonders with visual tone in working with the beauty of nature and the sun while creating definitive shadowy palettes for interiors.
When speaking to the idea that “everything’s not what it appears to be on the surface”, Bahrani himself notes, “For some time you even think maybe it’s gonna be a certain kind of film, which it’s not. But I like that because there should be some sense that everything is normal and it’s okay and then little by little you realize there is nothing okay here at all.” That same illusory technique also applies to the very subject matter of GMO’s as it’s ” no different than some of the food you eat that you think tastes so good and then little by little you realize this absolute junk.”
Most appreciated is Bahrani’s research into the Heartland and seed farmers, actually basing the film and story on fact with GMO’s and the de-romanticizing of farming. This isn’t Laura Ingalls and a little corn crop in the backyard. This is a now a cut-throat industry filled with deceit, conniving, trickery and everyone trying to get a better yield, make a bigger buck, screw the GMO company’s and profit for themselves. Automated and machinated. Yet, Bahrani never makes this an “agenda driven” film and never takes sides or politicizes the issues. Everything is left open to individual interpretation.
According to Bahrani, the idea for AT ANY PRICE came from being “interested in where my food came from and that led me to reading a lot of Michael Pollon’s work. Michael and I became friends via e-mail and I asked him if he would introduce me to George Naylor. . . George actually appears in AT ANY PRICE. Some other farmers also appear in the film playing themselves. I lived with George in Churdan, Iowa for many many months. He just would invite me into his home. . .All the farmers were like that. They were all very welcoming, very warm. You could tell that they cared about community but they were under pressure, the pressure of these mantras that they told me. Every farmer I met said ‘Expand or Die’, ‘Get Big or Get Out’. So many of the details came out of those experiences.”
Anecdotes about life in the farming community and actual events witnessed by Bahrani find their way into the film. An example is a retelling by Bahrani of a few instances that are important aspects of AT ANY PRICE. “I went out with George [Naylor] one night after dinner and he said, ‘Ramin, I’ve got to go to a PowerPoint presentation about micro-nutrients at the local diner. It’s gonna be pretty boring for you so I’ll meet you in a few hours.’ I said, ‘Are you kidding! I can’t think of anything more exciting than a PowerPoint presentation about micro-nutrients at the local diner! [laughing]’ And I went there. Doctors get fancy meals to talk to pharmaceutical companies and here were these farmers eating pork chops and [drinking] Welch’s and Mountain Dew in the back of the diner listening to a presentation about micro-nutrients, which becomes a scene in the film.”
Expounding on his stay in Iowa, Bahrani talks about creating Chelcie Ross’ character Byron and how the issue of seed-cleaning became an important part of the plot. “While I was there, I noticed this gentleman giving the presentation, this guy was a PhD, he had a local farmer who was selling the micro-nutrients for him and that created a level of trust. You knew the person. And that guy’s name was Byron. I came to learn that Byron was a seed cleaner and that he had gone out of business and he had to make a living and now he was doing this. I went and visited Byron and Byron told me his story and how his kids has to give him money every month so that he could make it through, which became Byron in the movie. It’s just the real Byron had never done anything illegal. We make that part up.”
A title that actually capsulizes the film as a whole, every action in AT ANY PRICE has a price and every character is paying a price. The circle and cycle of life continues for yet another generation, AT ANY PRICE.
Directed by Ramin Bahrani
Written by Ramin Bahrani and Hallie Elizabeth Newton.
Cast: Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Maika Monroe, Heather Graham, Kim Dickens, Clancy Brown, Chelcie Ross, Red West
