| Videos (see all 2 NEW) |
| William Lee Scott | ... | Wesley | |
| Lucas Black | ... | Vernon | |
| Fred Willard | ... | Ned | |
| John Michael Higgins | ... | Deermont | |
| W. Earl Brown | ... | Holister | |
| Taj Mahal | ... | J.R. Cox | |
| Mary Kay Place | ... | Dr. Gwen Bradley | |
| Robert Wisdom | ... | Moker | |
| Ashley Johnson | ... | Angie | |
| Niki J. Crawford | ... | Shanita | |
| RonReaco Lee | ... | Ben | |
| Lawrence Lowe | ... | Lonnie | |
| Jared Tyler | ... | Raymond | |
| Davenia McFadden | ... | Deputy Rhodell Larkin | |
| Matt Clark | ... | Barge Captain | |
| Clyde Edgerton | ... | Luther | |
| Bonnie Root | ... | Ladonna | |
| Cheryl Black | ... | Mysteria | |
| Cleo Brock-Abraham | ... | Lucy | |
| Stephen Speake | ... | College Boy | |
| Shawn Patrick Nash | ... | Local Guy in Moker's (as Shawn Nash) | |
| Lee Daniel Black | ... | Local Guy #2 | |
| David Shatraw | ... | Reporter | |
| Jeanne Averill | ... | Dr. Mills | |
| Harlan Cole | ... | Janitor | |
| L.R. Hults | ... | Photographer (as LR Hults) | |
| Afton Sanders | ... | Receptionist | |
| George Terbovich | ... | Board Member | |
| Millie Paxton | ... | Board Member | |
| Bill Holman | ... | Board Member | |
| rest of cast listed alphabetically: | |||
| Rosemary Garris | ... | Faculty Member (uncredited) | |
| Molly Karrasch | ... | Crowd Member (uncredited) | |
| Courtney Kocak | ... | Crowd Member (uncredited) | |
| Dave Schuetz | ... | Faculty Member (uncredited) | |
| Kevin Stroup | ... | Founder's Day attendee (uncredited) | |
Directed by | |||
| Tricia Brock | |||
Writing credits(WGA) | ||
| Clyde Edgerton | (novel) | |
| Tricia Brock | (screenplay) | |
Produced by | |||
| Jason Clark | .... | producer | |
| Steve Espinosa | .... | producer | |
| Teryn Fogel | .... | associate producer | |
| Ryan Gilleland | .... | associate producer | |
| Lisa Kearns | .... | associate producer | |
| Susan Kirr | .... | line producer | |
| Deb Martin | .... | associate producer | |
| Cary McNair | .... | producer | |
| Hans C. Ritter | .... | line producer: Los Angeles (as Hans Ritter) | |
Original Music by | |||
| Tom Rothrock | |||
Cinematography by | |||
| Matthew Jensen | (director of photography) | ||
Film Editing by | |||
| Tom McArdle | |||
Casting by | |||
| Felicia Fasano | |||
| Mary Vernieu | |||
Production Design by | |||
| Ben Woolverton | |||
Art Direction by | |||
| Jack Thomas | |||
Set Decoration by | |||
| Sean Kennedy | |||
Costume Design by | |||
| Rhona Meyers | |||
Makeup Department | |||
| Adruitha Lee | .... | key hair stylist: Los Angeles | |
| Alex Proctor | .... | key makeup artist: Los Angeles | |
| Marina Proctor | .... | hair assistant | |
| Tony Ward | .... | hair assistant | |
| Tony Ward | .... | makeup assistant | |
Production Management | |||
| Jason Clark | .... | unit production manager | |
| Sarah J. Donohue | .... | production supervisor: Los Angeles (as Sarah Donohue) | |
| Susan Kirr | .... | unit production manager | |
| Leah Palen | .... | post-production supervisor (as Leah M. Palen) | |
Second Unit Director or Assistant Director | |||
| David Bryant | .... | key second assistant director | |
| Cleta Elaine Ellington | .... | second assistant director: reshoots (as Cleta Ellington) | |
| J.J. Linsalata | .... | first assistant director: Los Angeles (reshoots) | |
| Andrew Payer | .... | second second assistant director | |
| Joey Stewart | .... | first assistant director | |
Art Department | |||
| Eric Broderick | .... | props intern | |
| Cat Cacciatore | .... | property master | |
| Werner Hoetzinger | .... | set dresser: Los Angeles | |
| Kelsey Lapoint | .... | scenic painter (as Kelsey LaPoint) | |
| Susan Poirier | .... | scenic painter | |
| Newt Post | .... | art department intern | |
| Ron Redburn | .... | on-set dresser (as Ronald T. Redburn) | |
| Priscilla Shaw | .... | props intern | |
| George Terbovich | .... | design consultant | |
| Grace Vaughn | .... | props intern | |
| Brad Willoughby | .... | set dresser | |
| Dan Winnett | .... | art department intern | |
| Steven Wolfe | .... | leadman | |
Sound Department | |||
| Jeremy Balko | .... | assistant sound editor | |
| Jeremy Balko | .... | foley mixer | |
| Evan T. Chen | .... | dialogue editor (as Evan Chen) | |
| Christopher D. Day | .... | boom operator | |
| Jake Eberle | .... | supervising sound editor | |
| Jeff Erdmann | .... | sound mixer (as Jeff Landon Eardman) | |
| Chris Frazee | .... | boom operator | |
| Alan Freedman | .... | adr mixer | |
| Jerry Gilbert | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| Shelley Roden | .... | foley artist | |
| Megan Silverstein | .... | sound intern | |
| Jonathan Wales | .... | sound re-recording mixer | |
| David Wyman | .... | sound mixer: Los Angeles | |
| Scott Hinkley | .... | post-production sound recordist (uncredited) | |
| Susan Pusateri | .... | additional foley artist (uncredited) | |
Visual Effects by | |||
| Mike Ocoboc | .... | digital compositor | |
Stunts | |||
| Thomas E. Bentley | .... | stunt performer (as Tom Bentley) | |
| Krisztian Kery | .... | stunt performer | |
| Shawn Patrick Nash | .... | stunt coordinator (as Shawn Nash) | |
Casting Department | |||
| Annie Bahner | .... | extras casting coordinator | |
| Tiffany Huey | .... | location casting intern | |
| Heather Laird | .... | location casting | |
| Jade Lauber | .... | location casting intern | |
| Amy McKee | .... | casting associate | |
Costume and Wardrobe Department | |||
| Katie Calcaterra | .... | costume intern | |
| Lizzie Cook | .... | key set costumer | |
| Jamie Crawford | .... | costume intern | |
| Ashley Harrison | .... | costume intern | |
| Heather Rose Koonse | .... | costume intern (as Heather Koonse) | |
| Katrina Migliore | .... | costume supervisor | |
Editorial Department | |||
| Bob Fredrickson | .... | color timer | |
| Alana Greenfield | .... | negative cutter: Viv Kim Negative Cutting | |
| Sandra Grubb | .... | assistant editor (as Sandy Grubb) | |
| Vivian Hengsteler | .... | negative cutter: Viv Kim Negative Cutting | |
| Chris Mistorni | .... | additional editor | |
| Michael Nouryeh | .... | assistant editor | |
Music Department | |||
| Tree Adams | .... | musician: singer, background vocals | |
| Jeff Babko | .... | musician: piano hand double | |
| Mike Brenner | .... | musician: lap steel guitar | |
| Derek Charles | .... | musician: singer, background vocals | |
| Dee Gilbert | .... | musician: singer, background vocals | |
| Angie Jaree | .... | musician: singer, background vocals (as Angie Jarre) | |
| Michael Jerome | .... | drum consultant | |
| Alex Locascio | .... | drum consultant | |
| Nancy Meyer | .... | music supervisor | |
| Keb' Mo' | .... | composer: additional music | |
| Walter New | .... | music editor | |
| Christopher S. Parker | .... | music clearance | |
| G. Marq Roswell | .... | music supervisor | |
| Mike Tarantino | .... | score recording engineer | |
| Adam Swart | .... | music coordinator (uncredited) | |
Transportation Department | |||
| Oscar Beguiristain | .... | driver: honeywagon | |
| Jim Fields | .... | driver: wardrobe trailer | |
| Jason Lems | .... | driver: shot maker | |
| Steve Moffit | .... | driver: production van (as Steve Moffitt) | |
| Oz Qureshi | .... | driver production assistant | |
| Gentry Robinson | .... | driver: 15 passenger van | |
| Ken Smith | .... | transportation coordinator | |
| Neil Thomas | .... | driver: stakebed | |
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| Lackawanna Blues | Laurel Canyon | Mr. & Mrs. Bridge | The Notebook | The Kite Runner |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Drama section | IMDb USA section |
| Add this title to MyMovies |
First and foremost this film is about the blues and the story of a juvenile
delinquent stuck in a baptist halfway-house who must play in a sappy christian band with fellow halfway-house delinquents when they really just want to play the blues. In this respect, the film was interesting and relatively well made. The story arc was laid out plain and predictable, but still enjoyable enough.
My criticism of the film comes when the film's autistic character Verne enters the story as a piano prodigy with an affinity for driving an invisible fantasy car. To me, this portrayal of autism is marred by typical on-screen half-truths that breed ignorance in understanding this unfortunate disorder. I will state plainly,
however, that I am certainly not an expert in defining autism, nor do I know any autistic people. However, it is clear to see that Killer Diller was not accurate. They started with trueish conceptions of autism: that those who have it have
communication disorders, preoccupation with fantasy, repetitive acts and
attachment to objects.
However, Verne, the autistic character in this film, was more less portrayed as a late-teens autistic child who has apparently never received significant treatment for his condition and thus he is basically just a socially awkward kid who drives an invisible car, shakes all the time, has to pee all the time, and goes beserker when anyone questions his "rocking." But in the end, with just a little bit of socializing and positive feedback about his piano skills, Verne is another autism success story, able to at once overcome what would have been severe speech
impediments, years of social disfunction and other problems all without
treatment, therapy or any real help.
The problem with this is that it looks like the film makers just watched Rainman and watered down the formula. All autistic children, of course, will overcome their most severe problems sometime in adulthood through random coincidence
and socialization. Afterall, their speech impediments are never really all that limiting, really just idiosyncrasies to be overcome with a few laughs. But this is resonable since all autistic people are really just idiot savants in hiding.
Rainman is a counting genius and Verne from Killer Diller is a piano prodigy.
This, to me, is dangerous, the concept of always simplifying disorders into cute, manageable characters who can overcome their "hang-ups" in 90 mins or two
hours. I'm not saying either cases are inconceivable, but the sad truth is that the communication problems caused by autism are typically overcome after
considerable work with a doctor, etc. from EARLY childhood. Verne, especially, is a case that in which the character is supposedly not treated or not thoroughly treated at all and can suddenly overcome speech impediment once he accepts
his surrounding social situation. He really has no vocabulary or pronounciation problems, just a little stumbles here and there, a few quirky repeats, a few off- kilter statements, a few simplistic, childish speeches. I think that if Verne was real, he would unfortunately never be able to carry on a conversation with
typical language. His chances of being a piano prodigy wouldn't be too
excellent....okay, you get the idea.
One last criticism: the acting of Verne in this film was not very strong. I realize this was a low budget feature with no real "name" actors attached, etc. However, Dustin Hoffman is an accomplished actor who takes his character studies to the limit. His taste for reseach and observation/immitation almost always brings
believability-- at least a considerable degree--to his roles, Rainman being no exception. In this case, the actor to play Verne seemingly went to little more trouble then to take cues from the director just before the take. "Ok, actors ready. Verne, umm...., rock back and forth....and act like you need to go to the
bathroom. Okay? Okay. Roll Sound. Roll Camera."
And so on... anyway, I honestly don't know how much research went into the
role of Verne, and it very well may have been treated with care. But I honestly didn't get that impression. Verne's place in the film ranged from comic relief to agency for change for the main character to superficial change into a sociable, well-adjusted guy. I just didn't think he was treated with respect. The only
mention/serious handling of his condition was with a doctor of sorts who spoke on his autism only in passing. If you wanted to leave this film as is, why not just cut that scene and claim that Verne is just a kooky, weird guy instead of a
character with autism, a guy who would have been dealing with a serious
condition all of his life and probably wouldn't have come out so socially apt.