Images courtesy of Childe Films
GREEN AND GOLD— 3 STARS
Blame it on American Midwestern values if you will, but there’s a cross-section of folks who openly apply a higher power to things they love and value. One such place for that is the Badger State of Wisconsin, the setting for the incredibly earnest new film Green and Gold. They love their farmers, and they love their football. And, sure enough, they see both as sacredly anointed. That religious credence sprinkles its share of whimsy on the film.
Let’s start with the farmers. The main character of Green and Gold is the brusque and set-in-his-ways Buck Strom, played by the tall and silvered frame of longtime acting favorite Craig T. Nelson. Introducing the fourth generation Holstein dairy farmer, music video cinematographer Russ Fraser loves framing Craig’s height against the natural beams of light cutting through edges of farm buildings and the spreads of natural foliage around his character’s farm. He’s the kind of man that spits at the end of sentences. Practical dirtiness never looked so majestic.
LESSON #1: GOD LOVES FARMERS– Nelson’s Buck looks like he stepped right out of the famous “So God Made a Farmer” speech given by beloved huckster radio personality Paul Harvey in 1978. Among the many verses in Harvey’s speech that actually mirror some of the selected character establishment scenes shot for Green and Gold, the concluding verse stands out the most in the “God” department:
“It had to be somebody who’d plow deep and straight and not cut corners; somebody to seed, weed, feed, breed and rake and disc and plow and plant and tie the fleece and strain the milk and replenish the self-feeder and finish a hard week’s work with a five-mile drive to church; somebody who would bale a family together with the soft strong bonds of sharing, who would laugh, and then sigh, and then reply, with smiling eyes, when his son says that he wants to spend his life “doing what dad does.” So God made a farmer.”
Green and Gold trades a son from that verse for a granddaughter as the hopeful next carrier of the family legacy. Jenny Strom, played by Madison Lawlor of Juniper, has carved out her own living space in a barn loft and gets up at the crack of dawn to tend to many homestead chores. In her back pocket, the feisty gypsy redhead keeps a dream of becoming a singer as way to spread her wings beyond the farm life. Together, Buck and Jenny share an undying love for the Green Bay Packers, often skipping out of long-winded church sermons to make it home for kickoffs.
LESSON #2: GOD LOVES FOOTBALL– Set and shot in Door County, Wisconsin, Green and Gold is firmly in Packers country. The team is unique in that it’s the only franchise in any of the major professional sports that is nonprofit in nature and community-owned by shareholders. That intimately local bond brings out the extra measure of divine devotion right alongside the farm pastures. Like many other fandoms, the “Cheeseheads” are quick to invoke the second half of Romans 8:31 of “If God be for us, who can be against us?” for a supernatural boost of victory-seeking confidence.
LESSON #3: NEEDING A MIRACLE– Well, debts don’t care about God, where the crux of Green and Gold’s narrative leans on the need for a heaven-sent miracle. The film is set in 1993 during a time when traditional mom-and-pop family farms were failing and gobbled up by banks and landowners looking for larger operations and output. Eschewing modern machinery in favor of a nurturing approach, Buck has pushed away the threats of foreclosure for as long as possible. Buck’s rival Chicago Bears-fan loan officer (Tim Frank) tosses him a wager. If Packers win the Super Bowl, Buck will get an interest-free year to catch up on his balance. If they don’t, he foreits all of his assets, including his house, land, and livestock.
This is where Green and Gold, backed financially by the Culvers restaurant chain, could have turned into an underdog sports movie about the 1993 Green Bay Packers. Those who know their sport almanac facts may remember that year being the second full season of the storied run of head coach Mike Holmgren and future Hall of Fame quarterback Brett Favre. In 1993, the team hadn’t had a post-season birth in 11 years and swung for the fences to sign fellow future Hall of Famer Reggie White away from the Philadelphia Eagles to lead the defense. They were a team on the rise with legends in the making.
While Green and Gold shares plenty of little clips and the excited hometown calls from the dulcet voice of longtime Packers radio broadcaster Wayne Larrivee, the crucial pigskin action is kept very much off-screen. Rather than watching scoreboards and highlights, debut feature director Anders Lindwall—spreading out a screenplay he contributed to with three other writers—is more interested in the plight of the sons and daughters of the soil. Much of the drama in the film is centered on Buck coming to grips with modern realities and Jenny looking into blazing her own trail.
Craig T. Nelson, in nearly everything he’s touched across a career spanning six decades, can do stoic and stolid in his sleep. He’s ideally cast and his senior twinkle still comes through. Borrowing the pipes of indie folk musician Natalie Nicoles to be the singing voice for Madison Lawlor across five soundtrack songs, Jenny books singing gigs in Milwaukee and Chicago to drum up extra money for the cause. Along the way, her talent and fetching presence turns the head of successful country artist Billy Reed (Brandon Sklenar of TV’s 1923) who is in a position to give her a big break. Her arc of decisions sweetly becomes the center of the film over Nelson’s.
With its idyllic morals and rural accoutrements, Green and Gold champions hopeful and wholesome vibes. This is a “neighbors helping neighbors” kind of movie that may not gel with people who don’t give a lick about God, country, football, cows, guitars, cheese, or burgers. Yet, Green and Gold carries a communal sense of awe that is not easily diminished. Perhaps its cherished supporting actor M. Emmet Walsh, in his final film, who sums it all up best when he compliments Buck to say “there’s a holiness in how you care for things.” Green and Gold embraces that soft touch without thumping Bibles to support and celebrate the challenges and resilience found in the endangered American farmer. There’s an under-filled soft spot place for quaint family fare tipping a hat like this.
LOGO DESIGNED BY MEENTS ILLUSTRATED (#1278)
