Synopsis
An oddball family on a Kansas farm are trapped in their farmhouse by an impending storm. The patriarch of the clan is a retired soda pop tycoon. He is currently dating a children's TV evangelist. Also living at the farm is his layabout daughter and her precocious 8 year old daughter, his would-be artist son, the son's fiancée, and the black maid. Also thrown into the mix is the daughter's ex-husband, a ne-er-do-well who is seeking to get back in his ex-wife's good graces.
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Cast
- Harry Dean StantonCleveland
- Suzy AmisMaureen Cleveland
- Crispin GloverHowdy
- Jenny WrightStephanie
- Dylan McDermottChris
- Charlayne WoodardLola
- Lois ChilesVirginia
- William S. BurroughsMan in Barn
- David BrownBob Breevort
- Tim RobbinsJeff
Recommendations
- 80
The New York Times
The trip, however, is well worth the effort for anyone whose sensibilities have been worn numb by the idiocies of most conventional films. - 70
Time Out London
Languorous pace and uneasy self-consciousness notwithstanding, it's in a similar bracket to the work of Hal Hartley and Atom Egoyan; it has a spaced-out charm of its own. And Glover's ludicrous wardrobe and whip-dancing skills make this a must for completists of Crazy Crispin. - 70
The A.V. Club
In the wrong hands, or with a different cast, such quirky material could easily have devolved into a grotesque parade of cartoon freaks. But Almereyda finds exactly the right tone: a loopy, understated deadpan that invites empathy rather than ridicule. Twister has the outline of a broad comedy, but the inspired cast–particularly Amis–brings such conviction to its performances that the drama registers as strongly as the comedy. - 60
Variety
Appealing for its ambition to achieve a unique tone and for its wildly disparate cast, pic never entirely comes together. - 25
TV Guide Magazine
It's difficult to figure just what is going on here, and most certainly not worth the effort.
