Little Chenier Movie Review
Directed by Bethany Ashton Wolf
Starring Johnathon Schaech, Frederick Koehler, Clifton Collins Jr., and the Louisiana Bayou.
Availability: on dvd
Wow, I really fucking liked this movie. This was another one of those festival movies that came out a few years ago but just finally released on dvd earlier this year. This movie has a beautiful setting, great actors and a musical score that fit it perfectly. This movie is a story of the beauty of family and friendships, that will have you rooting for the characters in the movie. With the exception of the Sheriff's son, every character for me, played out as someone I would love to meet in real life and hang out and have a beer with. I'll be honest im a sucker for a good Louisiana movie especially if it focuses on a group of people I know very little about. I dont know how authentic it was but I was just fascinated by the whole French cajun culture I just wanted to keep learning more. After watching the movie I read up on wikipedia about their customs, religious beliefs and it helped me understand the movie even more.


The movie focuses on two brothers that own a bait ship on the river. The younger brother Pemon(Fred Koehler) is mentally challenged and his older brother Beaux (Johnathon Schaech) looks after him while running their business. Every once in awhile they have a drunken father that stumbles in long enough to take their money, verbally abuse them and then he's off again for days and weeks at a time. The town sheriff, which the whole town loves, and his dumbass deputy sheriff son are investigating the death of a baby calf that was beaten to death. To add to the conflict the Sheriff's son has recently married Beaux's g/f just out of the blue. Also Beaux has a best friend T-Boy that helps him out and looks after his brother Pemon. To say much more would get into spoiler territory. The movie follows Beaux and his relationship with his ex g/f, his conflict with the sheriff's son and his interactions and the raising of Pemon.

Most movies live and die on the ending of the movie and this one is no exception. At first it looked like it was heading toward cliche zone and I was screaming (in my head at least) "no dont ruin this movie for me", but at the last moment the story changes and instead it turned to a Hollywood type ending which worked effectively and I screamed again (in my head) "Hell Yeah!"
One of the most impressive aspects is the acting. I couldnt even find one weak performance in the whole lot. Frederick Koehler does an excellent job playing a mentally handicapped man. When you first see and hear him for the first time it throws you off cuz its a different take, but by the end of the movie he will turn you into a believer. Johnathon Schaech does an admirable job playing a lonely hurt older brother that cares about his family and doing what's right. Perfect casting as a whole. The more I think about the movie the more I like it. While its far from perfect its a great little dramatic gem that I was needing to see. On a scale of 1-10 I give it a "fornication" 8.1 out of 10.
Trailer