Varmints

Opening with a scene that plays as if Walt Disney's Vanishing Wilderness was remade by the Farrelly Brothers (There's Something About Mary), in which yahoos wearing "Explode Them Dogs" buttons use high-powered rifles to play pop goes the prairie dog, Doug Hawes-Davis's Varmints explores the conflicting morass surrounding the endangered (or non-endangered), keystone species (or pest), better forage producing (or forage destroying) cuddly rodents known as prairie dogs. Combining interviews with naturalists, environmentalists, pest management representatives (both government and commercial), Native Americans, animal rights activists and varmint hunters, with archival footage of wholesale government massacring of prairie dog populations (using poison), the film presents several sides of the story, while clearly sympathizing with the prairie dog's plight. Certain scenes left me speechless, including one in which the good ol' boys (read: idiots) appear to be shooting in the direction of a clearly operational highway, and another in which an elderly woman from Indiana says that it's "fun to go out and shoot prairie dogs," followed immediately by the--I thought--somewhat contradictory remark that it's nice to "appreciate God's handiwork." A thought-provoking microcosmic look at a situation that will invite discussion on larger, more general, issues, Varmints suffers mightily from repetition (both in the interviews and in the clips of prairie dogs being shot; after the first 25 we've surely gotten the point). We recommend the abridged 56 minute version ($250), not the 91 minute unabridged version. Aud: H, C, P. (R. Pitman)