source: Jake's Corner

Back in the day they would call a place like Jake's Corner a whistle stop. Still do I'm sure among the truckers. The place consists of a bar&grille and a general store. Behind those two structures the various people who live and work in and around these establishments hang out in dwellings, some of them kind of slapped together. They are an interesting community and unofficially it's headed by Richard Tyson, former football player and Heisman Trophy winner who just retired from the world to this place after a family tragedy. Another family tragedy hits his family. His sister and her husband are killed in a car crash and their young son Colton Rodgers survives but has no memory of the crash. Tyson takes him in and the people of Jake's Corner know him from previous visits. But no one is to mention the crash, just let him think that his parents are on the mend. In sum and substance that's the film. Not much plot but some real interesting characters live in Jake's Corner and we get to know them as they are fleshed out in this film. Diane Ladd is the somewhat addled lady who thinks there's bear with designs on her. Country star B.J. Thomas plays the town doctor and bartender, in a place this small one doubles up on occupations. Don Collier who has been in about a Gazillion westerns made his last screen appearance as an old rodeo cowboy who sits and plays cards with Thomas with an occasional observation on life. The pace of Jake's Corner is slow and easy, but it's an easy to take film with some interesting people. This film might even drum up some tourist trade.

I want to talk about the final edited version of this film I saw at a screening last week but first I want to talk about this film in general. I was fortunate enough to see this film in it's previously edited version a couple of months ago. I was amazed that a film with a budget of around a million dollars could look this incredible. I would call this a low budget film because of its budget but that is where it loses all comparison with any other low budget film I have seen. The acting was first rate, by all involved. Trejo and Ladd did there usual amazing jobs, but Richard Tyson and Tony Longo were in a rare form I have never seen. Instead of his usual loud, brash and in your face style. Tyson carried this role off with a depth and seriousness that you could read in every line in his face. I have always been on the fence when it comes to Tyson but he showed in this role that he has what it takes to be a serious lead actor and not just the crazy loud over the top character actor he usually plays. Kudos to the director for helping him find that talent that I thought was always inside him. Longo showed more feeling and sensitivity in this role than he ever has been before. This performance will get him out of the Goomba and common thug roles he usually plays. This role should make casting agents sit up and take notice. At first I thought I didn't like the choice of the young boy who played the nephew. But then I realized it was that it wasn't that I didn't like him it was just that he was just a real kid....not some Hollywood kid actor acting like we think a kid should act. You can't help but fall in love with his rawness and honesty. Technically, a great film as well. good transitions, excellent cinematography, and the soundtrack and score are as good as a studio films. The new version I saw has a spiritual message to it that will ring home with everyone. I always thought that this was meant to be a family film but some rough language and adult situations in the earlier version caused confusion as to who this film was suited for. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!!!!!! JAKE'S CORNER IS A MUST SEE FAMILY FILM!!!!!

Jake's Corner is an inspiring indie family drama. It tells the story of how one family overcomes loss without allowing it to define them. Set in the rural, high country desert town of Jake's Corner, Arizona, Jake's Corner the movie centers on the character, Johnny Dunn (Richard Tyson), a U of A Heisman Trophy winner and ex-pro football star who walked away from the game and stole away to the small town after the tragic loss of his parents. Dunn suffers the additional loss of his sister and is forced to temporarily take in his young nephew, Spence, to whom he decides to not immediately reveal the truth about the death of his parents. Together, along with the eclectic clan that makes up Jake's Corner, the family learns to heal through the courage, wisdom and strength of each other.The casting of this film is brilliant in its consideration. With a blend of veteran and first time actors, Jeff Santo captures the essence of humanity that makes this film deliver. Subtle in presentation, the film draws you in with its simplistic, yet sophisticated characters and captures you with its intensity of acceptance and love without judgment that we, as humans, all crave for in our own lives. Richard Tyson is exceptional as Johnny Dunn. Stoic and unassuming in presence, Dunn struggles with the pain of loss. Tyson superbly presents to us the raw emotion that runs deep within at all the right moments without ever compromising Dunn's character. As Doc and Fran, B.J. Thomas and Diane Ladd share with us the wisdom of an older generation that has fully experienced a lifetime of love and loss, and deliver to us some of the best lines in the film. The remainder of the cast brings their back stories into play just enough to enhance the story and round out the film. One of the things that I love most about this film is that there are so many stories going on within the main one. Santo doesn't spend time delving deeply into the past of each of the characters. He doesn't have to. That's the genius of this film. He presents the characters in such a way that we get to know each and every one through brief encounters and simple conversation. At the end of the film, each and every character has grown on you and has a place within the story—each contributing in their own way, beautifully and simply. The music was also an important character within the film. The string guitar was very soulful —just like everyone there. Everyone in the movie had a ton of life experience behind them, but they were just simple people. The music captured that.

source: Jake's Corner

Jeff Santo writes and directs this moving film based on family tragedy and the courage to move on. Johnny Dunn(Richard Tyson), a University of Arizona Heisman Trophy winner and former Pro football star leaves the game and the money after the tragic loss of his parents. He returns to Jake's Corner, where he owns a bar in a roadside stop that features a market and scads of trailer dwellers. This tiny piece of Arizona is home to a close-knit community that somehow clings together thanks to bar bouncer Gus(Tony Longo)and Doc, the bar sage, played by awarding winning singer B.J. Thomas. Shortly after Johnny's return tragedy strikes again with the death of his sister in a car wreck. Surviving is Spense(Colton Rodgers), Dunn's nephew, who comes to stay and shakes up the settled life and ways of Jake's Corner. This is a touching family film that also stars: Diane Ladd, Danny Trejo, Sanel Budlimic, Ana Auther and Ky Moni Abraham. Thomas, with one of the most unique rock and pop voices of the late 60's, sings "I Like Livin", "When The Hero Dies", "Meet Me At My Heart", "Best Things In Life" and his mega hit, "Rock and Roll Lullaby". In spite of some horrible acting and a mediocre script, you will come to like the characters and message of this Christian based drama.

Back in the day they would call a place like Jake's Corner a whistle stop. Still do I'm sure among the truckers. The place consists of a bar&grille and a general store. Behind those two structures the various people who live and work in and around these establishments hang out in dwellings, some of them kind of slapped together. They are an interesting community and unofficially it's headed by Richard Tyson, former football player and Heisman Trophy winner who just retired from the world to this place after a family tragedy. Another family tragedy hits his family. His sister and her husband are killed in a car crash and their young son Colton Rodgers survives but has no memory of the crash. Tyson takes him in and the people of Jake's Corner know him from previous visits. But no one is to mention the crash, just let him think that his parents are on the mend. In sum and substance that's the film. Not much plot but some real interesting characters live in Jake's Corner and we get to know them as they are fleshed out in this film. Diane Ladd is the somewhat addled lady who thinks there's bear with designs on her. Country star B.J. Thomas plays the town doctor and bartender, in a place this small one doubles up on occupations. Don Collier who has been in about a Gazillion westerns made his last screen appearance as an old rodeo cowboy who sits and plays cards with Thomas with an occasional observation on life. The pace of Jake's Corner is slow and easy, but it's an easy to take film with some interesting people. This film might even drum up some tourist trade.

The script to this movie is forced and the language is often wooden. Now some of the problems may just be bad acting because there's lots of that as well. But there's not much of a believable story. So much of it seems mechanical, both script and acting. Yes, there is a collection of "characters" here (the story location is a Arizona bar in the middle of nowhere) but that's far from making it a watchable movie. They seem to be trying so hard to be interesting, possible to cover up gaping holes in the search for a real plot. The real drama seems to be the boy whose parents were killed in a wreck thinking they're still alive and wondering when and how he's going to find out that they're not. And he keeps turning up missing but it's usually just to visit the neighbors. I checked this out of the public library but it was still a waste of time.

I want to talk about the final edited version of this film I saw at a screening last week but first I want to talk about this film in general. I was fortunate enough to see this film in it's previously edited version a couple of months ago. I was amazed that a film with a budget of around a million dollars could look this incredible. I would call this a low budget film because of its budget but that is where it loses all comparison with any other low budget film I have seen. The acting was first rate, by all involved. Trejo and Ladd did there usual amazing jobs, but Richard Tyson and Tony Longo were in a rare form I have never seen. Instead of his usual loud, brash and in your face style. Tyson carried this role off with a depth and seriousness that you could read in every line in his face. I have always been on the fence when it comes to Tyson but he showed in this role that he has what it takes to be a serious lead actor and not just the crazy loud over the top character actor he usually plays. Kudos to the director for helping him find that talent that I thought was always inside him. Longo showed more feeling and sensitivity in this role than he ever has been before. This performance will get him out of the Goomba and common thug roles he usually plays. This role should make casting agents sit up and take notice. At first I thought I didn't like the choice of the young boy who played the nephew. But then I realized it was that it wasn't that I didn't like him it was just that he was just a real kid....not some Hollywood kid actor acting like we think a kid should act. You can't help but fall in love with his rawness and honesty. Technically, a great film as well. good transitions, excellent cinematography, and the soundtrack and score are as good as a studio films. The new version I saw has a spiritual message to it that will ring home with everyone. I always thought that this was meant to be a family film but some rough language and adult situations in the earlier version caused confusion as to who this film was suited for. BUT NOT ANYMORE!!!!!!!! JAKE'S CORNER IS A MUST SEE FAMILY FILM!!!!!

Jake's Corner has charm and heart aplenty. The town is basically a roadside stop, comprised of a market, a bar and the transient abodes of trailers. It is peopled by misfits who fit together in the family bond called friendship. In typical small-town setting, everyone has idiosyncrasies that are magnified in exactly contrasting proportion to the size of the town - Fran is the quirky recluse who never leaves her trailer, played with gusto by Diane Ladd; Gus is the slightly dim-witted, kindly bouncer, played by Tony Longo; Doc is the bar philosopher, played by B.J. Thomas (Grammy award-winner who also performs five original songs in the movie). Johnny Dunn, who owns the town's only businesses, brings his 12-year-old nephew, Spence (Colton Rodgers), to live with him in Jake's Corner when the boy's parents (Dunn's sister and brother-in-law) are killed. While trying to figure out how to help Spence deal with the loss of his parents, Dunn is again faced with the earlier loss of his own parents that he never came to terms with. The characters are all very familiar. So there is an almost immediate sense for the viewer that we know them. This makes it comforting to the young audience it is aimed at, especially as the story deals with a painful emotion. The movie has a lot to offer: a moral (two, in fact: family is what you create with people you love, regardless of kinship, and people may be different but they still deserve respect), positive role models (including ex-football star Johnny Dunn, played by Richard Tyson) and obstacles to overcome (from the small challenges like dealing with frat pledges playing nasty pranks to larger ones like dealing with the loss of a close relative). Not to mention a setting that would be enticing to a child of any age looking for the freedom of wide-open spaces. Parents looking for an enjoyable entertainment to share as a family would do well to keep this one on their radar