Hey everyone. Capone in Chicago here with a heads up on a film opening regionally this weekend with hopes of a wider release to come. I say, it deserves a shot at the big time.

There are two feature films opening this week with stand-up comics in the lead. One features some dude named Larry the Cable Guy. I won¹t pretend I don¹t know who he is, but I¹ve never seen an entire performance by the guy, so I¹m not really familiar with his work, and there¹s no way in hell I¹m seeing his film. The other, much smaller movie is only opening in about 15 theatres in Wisconsin (ROAD TRIP!!!), and it stars a lesser-known comic veteran named Pete Schwaba, who also just happened to write and direct the thing. I¹ve never heard of or seen Schwaba¹s act either, but The Godfather of Green Bay is a wholly likable and moderately entertaining film that succeeds most when it isn¹t trying so hard to be funny.

Schwaba plays Chicago-born stand-up comic Joe Keegan, who has been struggling for years on the comedy circuit to get seen for a possible sitcom deal or at least an appearance on the ³Tonight Show.² His friend Kenny (Lance Barber) offers him up a rare piece of insight: the talent scout for the ³Tonight Show² takes an annual trip to Wisconsin, just outside of Green Bay, to do some hunting and he always spends time at a way-out-of-the-way comedy club, guaranteeing Joe a captive audience. The pair road trip to Wisconsin, and immediately bump into Joe¹s former Chicago high school teacher Molly (Lauren Holly). Since the two are practically the same age, we don¹t need a soothsayer to guess that a love connection is in the works. But that subplot is a distraction from the film¹s funniest moments.

Once the comedians make it to the club, the movie feels a lot less contrived and scarily authentic in its portrayal of the townies. First there¹s the titular character, who also goes by the name of Big Jake (a beautifully mulleted Tony Goldwyn), a former high school football star (think Uncle Rico from Napoleon Dynamite) who is now the biggest drug dealer in Green Bay. He also is performing his version of a courtship in Molly¹s direction, which includes about a half-dozen performances of The Macarena during the course of this film. (I shit you not; twice would have been enough, Mr. Writer-Director.) As good as Goldwyn is, my personal favorite appearance is Thomas Lennon¹s Dug (³spelled D-U-G, because you gotta have a hook²), the comedy club emcee whose string of Packers and gay jokes is about as deep as you¹d expect him to get. But when Joe gives him the sincere advice to speak his mind and do comedy that nobody else is doing, his entire personality on stage changes, resulting is the best bits the movie has to offer.

In fact, Lennon¹s performance elevates this film to such a degree that it¹s the reason I¹m writing this review at all. I¹ve been a fan of the Chicago-born comic actor since his days on MTV¹s ³The State,² and his subsequent appearances in Comedy Central¹s ³Reno 911² and in smaller film parts have always kept me in stitches. But this is a classic performance hidden away in a film many of you may never even have the chance to see. As I¹m sure some of you do, I keep a list of films that don¹t make it to theatres in Chicago. I know eventually they will make there way onto DVD and cable, so I just play the waiting game. Put The Godfather of Green Bay on your to-see list for Lennon¹s performance; it¹s worth it.

There are some fun cameos from the likes of American Movie¹s Mark Borchardt and some mental defect nicknamed Rat Boy, whose graceful dancing styling are featured prominently. Naturally, Joe¹s citified humor goes right over the heads of the locals, and his struggle becomes finding the right comic note for this crowd before the talent scout shows up. Aside from Lennon¹s work, the best moments in the film happen in the background. Conversations about drinking, getting into trouble, hunting, football, and how everyone from Chicago is gay (It¹s true! It¹s true!) are 100 percent authentic. I was just in Wisconsin last week and I tend to get up there for various reasons five or six times a year, and this is what I hear in the local bars, restaurants, and more bars. In most cases, Schwaba does a fair job of finding the humor in these people and their conversations without making fun of them, even when those freakin¹ cheeseheads deserve it. The accents are exactly right, the attitudes are finely tuned, and I can¹t help but think/hope that the extras were paid in beer. The Godfather of Green Bay is a hoot, and I¹m guessing that the closer you live to the places this film takes place, the more you¹ll enjoy it.

Capone