Branson

(USA, 2009, 94 mins)

FR 23.98

World Premiere

Producers: Brent Meeske, Jack Black, Ben Cooley, Justin Moore-Lewy, Charlie Mason
Screenwriter: Brent Meeske
Cinematographer: Brian Zarin
Editor: Brent Meeske
Music: John Gold
Featuring: Jackson Cash, Amber Campbell, Geoffrey Hastings Haberer, Peggy Lee Brennan-Haberer, Terry Wayne, Nita Tate, Eric Eichenberger, Patrick Schuster, Angela Walker, Blake Walker, Jim Mock, Jim Mock, Jr.

Branson’s 108 live shows attract seven million visitors a year. With that kind of business, it’s not surprising to find performers of every ilk trying to make it big in this little city tucked away in the scenic Ozark Mountains of southern Missouri’s bible belt.

For this engaging and often heartbreaking film, director Brent Meeske followed the performers of three acts playing at a Branson strip mall—two in actual theaters and one in the foodcourt—through all the ups and downs of three seasons. Offstage, they wait tables, sell gadgets at mall kiosks, perform for tips or meals, and sell CDs at gas stations—all just to make ends meet.

Throughout the film, performers confront the darkness of an unknowable future and struggle with lifelong demons of self-doubt and addiction. Shows close and re-open, and dreams are made, lost, and sometimes found again. The realists among the entertainers take their final curtain call, and a few realize they’re lucky to be making it anywhere, let alone making it in the big time of Branson.

-- Jennifer Wilson

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