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Cash Crop

[2001, Movie]

Cash Crop: Review

This earnest Farm Aid drama tries to inject a new twist into the depressed economy/desperate farmers scenario of films like MILES FROM HOME and COUNTRY. Andy Yates (Wil Horneff) is a dutiful son who works on his parents' farm and hangs out with his pot-smoking buddies. But he refrains from sampling the wacky weed himself; he thinks pot is for losers. Little does Andy know that his parents are moonlighting in the marijuana field! For the younger generation, substance abuse is a way to escape the farm belt's doldrums. For Andy's father, Jake Yates (Jeffrey DeMunn), dope is a means to an end. Unlike other hardworking stiffs forced into insolvency, Jake Yates pays off his bank loans with the profits from his sideline crop, collaborating with the Upton Clan to grow weed for local dealer Ray Baker (Evan Handler). Meanwhile, DEA agent Ainslinger (Mary McCormack) notices an upsurge in the drug distribution pattern and comes to the small town to investigate the source of the dope boom. Although Sheriff Johnson (John Slattery) cooperates with Ainslinger, he also subtly tips off the locals that the jig is up. Stunned to discover his dad's secret occupation, Andy tries to reconcile the moral lessons Jake instilled in him with his father's sudden pragmatism. As Ainslinger sniffs around the corncribs and milking barns, Baker devises a way to grab the stash for himself and leave the rubes to take the heat. Though exceedingly well acted, this well-intentioned picture presents its ethical standoff — government bureaucracy vs. small businesses — in a cliched and schematic way. But the hard-working cast members refuse to treat their rural characters with condescension, and their performances give the scenario weight and insure that the denouement doesn't feel at all bogus. --Robert Pardi

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Cash Crop
Andy Yates (Wil Horneff) was born and...
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Posted: 3/17/2008

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Cast & Details

Year: 2001
Rated R

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Cast
Wil Horneff: Andy Yates
Jeffrey DeMunn: Jake Yates
Lisa Emery: Alice Yates
Mary McCormack: Agent Ainslinger
John Slattery: Sheriff Johnson
Evan Handler: Ray Baker

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