Herman, USA

Released 2000
Stars Michael O'Keefe, Kevin Chamberlin, Wally Dunn, Beau Jorgensen, Randal Berger, Bob Davis
Directed by Bill Semans
Reviewed April 27, 2001

This is a sweet, sweet film based on a true story that took place in a small Minnesota town named Herman. In 1994, the town noticed their businesses were slowly closing and their tiny population of 485 was dwindling. They realized this was partly due to the fact they had 78 eligible bachelors (aged 20-50) and only 10 single women (the film says 6). To solve this problem, they decided to put an ad in a local newspaper inviting bachelorettes to a town festival to acquaint themselves with Herman's bachelors. They thought it may draw a handful of women and a few businesses. How wrong they were. After the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported it as a human interest story, it was picked up worldwide by the Associated Press. The town was flooded with thousands of letters, phone calls and eventually women at the festival.

All of this actually happened, however the film mixes fiction with truth to create its story. The film opens with a group of friends at the coffee shop discussing matters in town, when Dan Ellison (Michael O'Keefe) reminds everyone to show up at the commerce meeting because he has a surprise. This is where he drops the idea, and after some prodding, the men become excited about it. In no way, however, are they prepared for what's to come. The festival occurs very quickly in the movie, and we follow the subsequent successes and failures of a handful of bachelors.

The overall tone of the film is right on the money. It could have easily been a lampoon of rural America, with the townspeople depicted as hicks. Instead it chose to concentrate on why this event generated so much interest--our fundamental need for love and companionship. Once this cry of loneliness was heard, women from around the world responded. It was refreshing to see the film approach this topic from an adult perspective. So many films are centered on teenagers and targeted toward teens, but this one held teens in the background. Instead it centered on a group of middle-aged friends, which we can tell is the age group the event was actually geared toward. By focusing on this group, it was more poignant as we watched lonely men try to break out of their quiet desperation to find a mate. This is ever so much more interesting and moving than watching high school kids trying to get laid.

Despite being a comedy, however, the film also knew how to handle the tender moments. The key example being when Wayne (Kevin Chamberlin) and his girlfriend begin to have "relations" for the first time. Aside from the scene progressing too quickly, it was tender and very well done. Rarely do you see such a scene in an American film handled so maturely and unflinchingly. Also, this was a love scene between two middle-aged people--one overweight and the other rather plain. It was not a passionate romp by two of the world's most beautiful people. Instead, it was an awkward awakening for two average people falling in love. It was one of the film's highpoints.

There are many other things to praise in Herman, USA. One is how lovingly it was filmed. Rarely will you find more stunning shots of farm country (refer to The Straight Story), and the scene of the guys playing football backlit by the setting sun was gorgeous. For such a low budget, the cinematography was oustanding. In fact, the aerial shots were the best aerial shots of farmland I can remember.

Herman, USA was not perfect, however. My biggest gripes were with the hackneyed plot twists that were tacked on. The golddigger playing a con on Dan and Dan's eventual awakening to his true love were telegraphed a mile away. In the first half of the film I was enthralled with its pacing and gentle nature, and I was hoping against hope that it wouldn't resort to cheap twists. In fact, half-way through, I was excited that we may have a romance where the two people who should have been together all along actually found happiness with other people. Unfortunately, this didn't happen. Apparently, Dan Ellison's true life experience with "bachelormania" was nothing like this, and it sounded much more interesting.

I think the filmmakers may have been unsure of how interesting their subject was, and they tried to inject more interest by adding the silly twists as well as an interracial couple. None of that was necessary. They had a topic that captured people's hearts and imaginations from around the country and even internationally. The event was even featured on ABC's 20/20. If the filmmakers were looking for drama, they could have looked at the effects on the town six years later, which is when this film was made. Some of the couples who were married have children now, some have been divorced, most of the new businesses have failed, and the town population has actually decreased by 9%. Bachelormania brought fame to the tiny town, and it brought happiness to some and heartbreak to others. It wasn't enough to save Herman from its gradual slide, but it did bring hope. There's your story.

Another weakness was the ending. I know they needed a happy ending, but they could have had one with Wayne's story. They didn't need to resort to what they did, but that's a nit. This is still a sweet movie that at times is cloying but is never maudlin.

While researching the story on the internet, I came across Herman's home page at http://www.hermanmn.com/home.html. I grew up in a small town, and I understand small towns pretty well. I now live in a small city (population 120,000), which is a world away from where I grew up, but I fondly remember my home town of 9000 people. On Herman's web site, there's an article that brought a tear to my eye. It's about a bus trip being organized for the townspeople to go see the movie in Minneapolis. The article was reprinted from their local newspaper, The Herman Review, and it contains the line "If you want to take the bus, sign up with Tracy at the school by Monday, April 2." Nowhere does the article mention Tracy's last name, because everyone in Herman knows who is meant by "Tracy at the school." That's why I love small towns.

Reviewed by Bill Alward  Home

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