Humble Pie

Great little independent film
A wonderful little film that I hope more people hear about. One of those intellectual comedies taking place in small-city America (Utah in this case) with memorable characters and realistic writing. As an FYI I believe when this hit the indie circuit it was called American Fork.

The story follows an extremely overweight adult grocery store clerk who aspires to be an actor and a writer. Unfortunately he is surrounded by the banality of life and untrustworthy souls, with a couple exceptions. One of those exceptions would not be his mother (played in deadpan perfection by Kathy Quinlan; I remember her most from that 4-film rush in 1997 with Zeus & Roxanne, Breakdown, Event Horizon and Lawn Dogs) who acknowledges her son as a loss to humanity, while his isolated sister (24's Mary Lynn Rajskub) attaches herself to the first man who pays attention to her. That man happens to be our main guy's slimy acting teacher played by William Baldwin. Normally I do not rehash plots too much...

EVERY CHARACTER WAS PATHETIC
The movie was quirky. Tracy Orbison (what's in a name?) is obese. People take advantage of him because he desires companionship and can't get it. He has a mom who wants her wall flower daughter to get married and have children, but when she gets a boy friend (Tracy's acting coach who plays the field) she openly prays to God to help her promiscuous daughter. Why does every Indie film have to have wall flowers? Tracy has been working 11 years as a stock boy, then gets promoted to assistant manager only to find out everyone is already and assistant manager, it is just a feel good title, like Walmart Associate. The action is slow, but steady. The plot is simple with no real surprises, at times boring. The movie is humorous, but not laugh out loud funny. Acting superb.

Tracy's adventures reflect the daily challenges of life in this highly entertaining drama
Humble Pie is a charming movie following everyman Tracy Orbison (played by Hubbel Palmer), a Midwestern stockboy who writes poetry during shift breaks and daydreams of making more of himself. A burst of inspiration leads him to take an acting class by a pompous local master (wonderfully played by William Baldwin); then one chaotic mishap after another leads him to actively pursue his life's dreams rather than simply wait for them. From mentoring a young delinquent to standing up to his overbearing mother to dealing with his wallflower sister and preparing himself for the monumental hurdle that is the driver's license exam, Tracy's adventures reflect the daily challenges of life in this highly entertaining drama. Bonus features include deleted scenes and brief featurettes. 84 minutes, closed captioned.

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