Vernon, Florida [DVD]

"Vernon, Florida" is an extremely quirky stream-of-consciousness documentary by Errol Morris about a tiny Florida town that time forgot, and the people who live there. The film's narrative is told through interviews with several loveable and unusual people, who have often-amazing viewpoints. Most heavily featured is a turkey hunter, who has some odd thoughts, expressed in various degrees of eloquence, but whose conversational dialogue is eminently memorable for both his observations and his turns of phrase. I was also taken by the police officer who sat in a conspicuous spot to deter speeding, but who couldn't do anything about it as his radar gun had been sent out of town for calibration. I appreciated his work ethic of pursuing a noble cause, even when his hands were technologically tied behind his back.Probably my favorite character was the gentleman who explained about gemstone examination and how he took a picture of the sky through a camera held next to a pair of opera glasses ("I don't know if it's the moon or not; it looks like some clouds.") He was genuinely mesmerizing to listen to and I would have loved to have seen all the interview footage he participated in. I also loved the old gentleman with the unusual pets. I laughed out loud when he explained he wasn't holding a turtle, but rather a gopher, and that he was hoping to sell his pet opossum at auction for between $1200 and $1500. Understand that I didn't think these men were laughable, I thought they were loveable characters, and supremely interesting. Likewise at the end, I enjoyed the couple explaining how they took a driving vacation to the White Sands Missile Range, and collected some sand in a jar. They were absolutely convinced the sand was growing, and would soon outgrow the jar it was kept in. ("It grows!")I found the characters absolutely wonderful and was sympathetic to all of them. They reminded me of many of the vanishing small towns in America, and I found their tales disjointed and delightful. From the elderly pet owner to the preacher who earnestly prayed for a van (and got one), I would easily give the entire group of people interviewed five stars. I was sometimes uneasy that the final film may have been condescending to these people, and was encouraging entertainment through mocking these wonderful people with their strange habits, hobbies, pastimes, and beliefs. I think these people are wonderfully refreshing, and this is a documentary that's well worth seeing. It's certainly like no other.

I remember seeing this when it was first broadcast on PBS. It was just as enjoyable the second time around. Don't watch it when you have something real important to do. Rather, when nothing else is pressing, get something good to drink and settle down to get a good insight into some interesting characters living (at least when the film was shot) in the south - particularly the panhandle of Florida. When I saw this the first time I had just moved from Florida to Michigan, however I had not encountered the kind of people that one finds in a small town in the Florida panhandle. I particularly enjoyed the tales from the turkey hunter. You don't run into someone like that in Orlando. Through it all one has to be careful as to what one believes. I have a jar of white sand and it has not grown to fill the jar (I obtained the small sample after I had seen the show the first time). Since seeing this the first time I had the opportunity to travel to Florida from Texas and purposely took a detour to Vernon. Yes it is there and having seen the show a second time, it looks like it does in the show. The show is well done but if you watch it, just relax and enjoy it.

Saw this film on IFC years ago and found it again recently. I'm not sure why this little gem ends so suddenly and unexpectedly without even a decent fade out. It just seems to end in the middle of one of the story/interviews and really doesn't go back to cap off any of the other stories or offer any kind of wrap up. It just STOPS! And that really hurts the flow of this otherwise wonderful documentary. The other star gets taken because you really have to turn your volume up to hear everything and its doubly frustrating because parts of the film really do rely on the sound being excellent quality, which is lacking. It also doesn't help because some of the dialect used is a little difficult to understand and the muddled sound confuses things said even more.I don't agree with many of the other reviews relating to its making fun of people or being mean spirited. In fact, I think that this film should be in the National Film Preservation Registry for its capture of a culture and way of life that is rapidly fading, if not gone already, slice of American humanity.If one choses to see these people as ignorant and uneducated, and thus funny, rather than seeing them as totally connected to their home and place in ways that no college or school could ever instill, then the point is missed here, I think.Still, this is a great documentary that doesn't need a storyline or plot because it is what it is.

I can say that this documentary truly captures the spirit of this area. I grew up (and am still living) in Bonifay which is a mere 8 miles from Vernon. I thought the documentary was true to life and very unbiased. I've read other reviews where people felt as if the Vernon citizens were exploited by the film's creator. Living here, I can assure you that these people were not exploited. If you were to spend an afternoon wandering around Vernon, you would still be very likely to run into these type of people who would corner you with their life stories and ponderings.Coming from this area, I give this documentary five stars. It just captures the characters of the area in such true life details. Of course, we are not all eccentric turkey hunters or opossum keepers; however, you are very likely to run into these folks just itching to keep your attention for an afternoon.I would like to note that in the South, we do have gopher tortoises, so when the gentleman says that his pet is a gopher, not a turtle, he hasn't lost his mind he just knows his reptiles. :)

Take a journey back to a time not very long ago - but still a galaxy away. A true masterpiece in its letting its characters do the talking without any hidden agenda. You will never come all the way back from Vernon, Florida

What a wild place. Very interesting stories.