Troublesome Creek: A Midwestern

A documentary about a family in Iowa struggling to pay its creditors before its farm is repossessed by the bank sounds like cod liver oil time, but in fact this is a scrappy, enthralling, and frequently hilarious portrait of a taciturn Midwestern American family in turmoil. The directors, Jeanne Jordan and Steven Ascher, are the daughter and son-in-law of the film's subjects, and hence it's as much a canny home movie as a somber treatise on the death of the family farm; still there are moments here as telling and memorable as those in Hoop Dreams and Paris Is Burning--equally fine films with more marketable subjects. Nominated for an Oscar for Best Documentary two years, this is recommended. (M. D'Angelo)[DVD Review—Feb. 7, 2006—Wellspring, 88 min., not rated, $19.98—Making its first appearance on DVD, 1995's Troublesome Creek features a nice looking transfer and DVD extras that include a photo gallery, filmmaker bios, and trailers. Bottom line: a small extras package for a fine documentary.]