Thursday, July 19, 2012

Is Jimmy in the House?

Last night I attended the “World Premier” showing of “Chasing Jimmy,” an independent film about one man’s quest to find Jimmy Buffet in the hopes of persuading him to visit the “Cheeseburger in Caseville” festival, in Caseville, Michigan.

Cheeseburger, as it is known locally, is an all-things parrothead and Margaritaville related.  Mr. Buffet is the king of parrotheads everywhere.

So last night’s Premier started out with a few technical issues – namely the resolution on the presentation projector was set to only show a small portion of the entire frame.

So there was some stalling and music and general conversations that lasted about 30 minutes until the movie finally started.

During the nearly 90-minute screening, we follow Caseville resident Bob Brown on his quest for “J.B.”  He was on the phone a lot with a lot of one-sided conversations that left we wondering who was on the other end.  I never really got the gist of the conversations which didn’t seem to provide Mr. Brown with much information.

Mr. Brown made his way to J.B.’s hometown of West Palm Beach, Florida where he attempted to make contact with J.B. at his home, yacht and recording studio.

Return to Caseville and scenes of the organized chaos that is the Cheeseburger Festival. There are snippets of interviews with many locals (a couple of which should ask that their “scenes” be edited OUT of the production).

By the end of the show, Brown hasn’t caught up with Buffet, which allows for multiple sequels, perhaps entitled “Still Chasing Jimmy, Part ?.”

Overall, in my opinion, the piece, if edited more tightly, would make a great promotional presentation for one of the larger festivals in Michigan. Rework the script away from the underlying “Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure” feel, sprinkle in more locals sharing the beauty of the Western Thumb, and you’d had a good start at a Pure Michigan promo piece.

Proceeds from ticket sales will be given to the newly-formed Thumb Area Arts & Entertainment Council.

While I seriously doubt there is an Oscar waiting for this movie, it certainly was an event that helps keep Caseville on the map.
 
More blithering non-sense is at BareNakedBill.blogspot.com

No comments:

Post a Comment