...which was not nearly as funny as it (the ringer) could have been. But I, unlike some, enjoy when actors come out of their shell. Also, what is wrong with having a movie that just has heart. I am not a simpering watery eyed girlie man but i like "its a wonderful life", and every now and again i like to watch a movie that doesn't require a whole lot of effort and just leaves you feeling good.

Secondly I would like to point out that Johnny Knoxville is showing his range and that one day people will tire of jackass (of which I am a big fan) and he will fade away unless he strives to break out into other roles. As for Juliette Lewis, who has amazing range(Natural Born Killers to The Other Sister) I totally believed her character. I have met people like that in the South and in California where I am from.

We have become so used to sophomoric comedy and explosions that we fail to recognize a good movie that just leaves you with a smile.

Not having a clue about "Daltry Calhoun", we decided to give it a try. We like to discover "indies" that might have a different viewpoint, away from the commercial films coming from Hollywood. The idea behind the film was the director's own appreciation for Southern culture. Inexperience might have gotten in the way, as Katrina Holden Bronson, the director, seems to have her heart in the right place, but the screen play she wrote is full of chiches about the same quirky characters she is trying to bring to life in her film.

The best thing in the film is Sophie Traub, a delightful newcomer, as far as this viewer is concerned, who steals the film from the other, more established actors. Ms. Traub plays June, a girl that having grown up without a father, in her environment, turns out quite balanced and with a maturity way beyond her young age. June, who has taken an interest in Doyle Earl, a big lug of a guy who is illiterate, shows her good nature by teaching this man how to read and deal with what life has given him. Sophie Traub is a young actress on her way to bigger and better things, no doubt.

The basic problem with the film is the Daltry Calhoun of Johnny Knoxville. For a man that has made it big in the grass business, he acts as though he is pained to see how far he went with his limited intelligence and resources. The business that started good, suddenly hits a snag as the grass begins producing strange growths. When May reappears in his life, he just doesn't know how to deal with the situation as he reacquaints with June and her mother.

Elizabeth Banks, who is usually an excellent presence in anything she appears, is bogged down by her May, a woman who is suffering an unknown disease and has brought June back to her father. Juliette Lewis has some good moments as Flora, the store owner who loves Daltry, and finds June a good cause to get involved with. David Koechner makes an impression as the somewhat retarded older Doyle Earl.

"Datry Calhoun" is not a total loss and one wishes Ms. Bronson something better for her next time behind the camera.

Johnny Knoxville plays a father who abandoned his wife and daughter at his mother in law's insistence. They suddenly show back up in his life when he makes it big in the hemp/sod business. What follows is a bunch of smalltown cutesy scenes that old women and teenage girls will be able to stomach but personally make me puke. This movie is linear with no real excitement going on and a boring story to tell. The acting is fumbling and stiff for the most part but if you love movies about strange southern personalities enough you might be able to sit through this. I can't imagine who the target audience of this shite is but it sure wasn't me! Thumbs down all the way to china.