Even Cowboys Get the Blues

THE POLISH BROTHERS HIT THE ROAD INJACKPOT

Let's be honest: a movie that fails to simulate the proverbial "roller-coaster ride" usually isn't a very good movie. Jackpot, a unique road picture from twin brothers Michael and Mark Polish, demonstrates that some filmmakers don't much need traditional narrative. Critics likened the brothers' debut feature, 1999's eerily still Twin Falls Idaho, to a Hopper painting. This, their sophomore effort, renders a state of mind.

Balding cowboy singer Sunny Holiday (Jon Gries) wants to hit the big time. But his absurd strategy for getting there—an apprenticeship on the karaoke circuit that turns into a nine-month, 43-stop "tour" of feebly populated desert towns—makes him something less than an underdog. For Sunny, the drone of the road is mightier than the dream, so he lets his idling brain grow fat on the sideways wisdom dispensed nonstop by his devoted manager, Lester "Les" Irving (Garrett Morris). With re-thermed celebs such as Daryl Hannah, Mac Davis, and Peggy Lipton spooned in at regular intervals, the whole odyssey of embarrassing pop songs, one-night liaisons, and dumb thinking looks at times to be heading toward nothing but irony. A surprise ending, though, offers the characters back their dignity and reveals the promising Polish brothers to be more interested in Sunny's quiet despair and the therapeutic power of friendship than in hollow displays of cultural savvy. The first truly great film from Michael and Mark Polish still lies a bit up the road. This one proves there will be plenty to enjoy along the way. (Rating: ★★★)

CHRIS MITCHELL