It's Just Movies

— by WILLIAM STERR —

I though Craig T. Nelson was dead. But I guess, like the old time dairy farmers of Wisconsin, he just keeps plugging along, even at 80 years old.

“Green and Gold” is a modern day fable about the values of honesty, hard work, and not cutting corners. Dairy farmer Buck (Craig T. Nelson – “Book Club”) has a spread north of Milwaukee and near the Lake Michigan shore. He and his family have farmed it through good and bad times, and this is a bad time. More than this, he believes in his brand of sustainable farming (horse and plow rather than tractor and tiller, for example), and has no patience with anyone who thinks differently. This includes his grand-daughter Jenny (Madison Lawlor – “Juniper”), who dreams of becoming a country music singer with a national reach, far beyond the taverns she plays in in “the city.”

Every time Jenny brings up her dissatisfaction with the humdrum, chore-filled farm life, Buck puts her down. However, her grandmother Margaret (Annabel Armour – “Canal Street”), encourages her to find her own place in life.

Then, just as the bank, represented by Jerry Moncton (Tim Frank – “Beautiful Brooke”), is breathing down their necks for a soon due loan repayment, Jenny meets Billy (Brandon Sklenar – “Futra Days”), her country-singer idol who encourages her to take a chance on the “big time.”

Add an intense love of the Green Bay Packers, thus named because their original backers were a meatpacking plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin, and you have all the elements of this tale.

Director Anders Lindwall (“Pop Revolution”), who shares writing credit with several others, has given us a heartwarming story about what it is like to try to run a farm (really, any family-owned farm) in the age of agribusiness. Like any fable of good vs not so good, it doesn’t bear close scrutiny, but it is well acted and reasonably well written (multiple writers or directors is not a good sign). While preachy, a bit slow paced at times, and Packers-obsessed (as indeed are many Wisconsinites), the acting is first rate, especially veteran Nelson, Lawlor and Armour.

The scenes in the well-designed farmhouse and especially the milking parlor (no fancy pneumatic milkers here, thank you), ring true. And the cinematography by Russ Fraser, who comes to this project with a primarily music video background, is fabulous. He really captures why these folks so doggedly want to keep their farm and lives the way they are. Finally, the musical score perfectly complements what we see on the screen: always in the background, subtly supportive, and faithful to the spirit of the story being told, right through the credits.

One more thing. This film features perhaps the last performance by M. Emmet Walsh, the legendary character actor. His is a small part, but it still carries the humble demeanor of his character – a longtime, elderly farmer. A bit of humor, a bit of grace.

Note: Unusual for a film, this movie was produced with the support of a commercial business: Culvers, an expansive Wisconsin based fast food restaurant chain. Culvers has long had a “Thank You Farmers Project” to support the American family farmer, and especially the farmers of Wisconsin. There is no mention of Culvers within the body of the film, but it is mentioned at the end of the credits, and on the advertising posters.

Runtime: One hour, 45 minutes
Availability: In theaters beginning Jan. 31, 2025

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