AT ANY PRICE DVD (2012)

SYNOPSIS: In the competitive world of modern agriculture, ambitious Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) wants his rebellious son Dean (Zac Efron) to help expand his family’s farming empire. However, Dean has his sights set on becoming a professional race car driver. When a high-stakes investigation into their business is exposed, the father and son are pushed into an unexpected crisis that threatens their family’s entire livelihood.

MOVIE REVIEW:

At Any Price is a strange hybrid of family drama and the ruthless corporate world. It’s an ambitious tale that tries to say too much but nevertheless congested with unexplored ideas towards the end.

Set in Midwestern Iowa, Dennis Quaid (The Day After Tomorrow) plays Henry Whipple, a farm owner who is always looking into ways to expand his family empire. It has been four generations of passing the baton and Henry hopes that one day his two sons will take over the business. Unfortunately, his favourite eldest son, Grant has left home after college to seek new adventures and his second, Dean (Zac Efron) hopes to become a professional NASCAR racer in which Henry is fast against. Meanwhile, Henry is facing a huge crisis in his farming business. Inspectors are being sent to his land to check for signs of illegal seeds cleansing under a tip off. Will he lose everything in the end including his rebellious son, Dean?

Director and writer Ramin Bahrani indeed painted a complex picture of the agricultural scene especially crucial for a movie that is set with such a background. But then Bahrani prefers to showcase the ugly side of humanity. Henry Whipple is not just a simple farmer. He is aggressive, egoistic and has no qualms of expanding his acres of land through illegal means. Despite having a loyal, capable wife by his side, Henry is also having an affair with a pretty blonde, Meredith (Heather Graham).  

The first half of the movie is engaging enough with all that thrills of the cutthroat corporate world (you don’t really see much movies about seed companies and their tactics don’t you?) and the intense father-and-son relationship between Henry and Dean. There is even a racing sequence thrown in for good measure. Undeniably, it’s plain old soap opera in the making. Only towards the final act does the movie start to collapse with Dean committing a heinous mistake. Is Bahrani trying to tell us evil begets evil? Or is there a much more meaningful subtext we missed?

In addition to all the beautiful shots of corn fields, Quaid and Efron definitely deliver strong dramatic performances in At Any Price unlike the usual stuff they are often seen in. Same goes for Maika Monroe (The Bling Ring) who portray Dean’s love interest. Graham’s character is utterly pointless except for her brief onscreen sexual trysts with Henry and Dean. At least the hangover actress makes a convincing cougar. 

SPECIAL FEATURES:

NIL

AUDIO/VISUAL:

The DVD transfer looks reasonable well and the audio track is serviceable as best. Just don’t expect sonic listening experience during the race sequence.

MOVIE RATING:

DVD RATING :

Review by Linus Tee