Falling from Grace (1992) – Nostalgia Central

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This vanity project for bland rocker John Mellencamp has him cast as Bud Parks, a successful country singer returning to his roots with his Californian wife, Alice (Mariel Hemingway), in tow after a life of meanderings and philandering.

He returns to his native Doak City, Indiana, to try to reestablish a normal life but instead takes up with his old high school sweetheart “PJ” (Kay Lenz), who is now married to his brother, Parker (Brent Huff) – yes, Parker Parks (!) – and also having an affair with Bud’s lecherous poultry farmer father, Speck (Claude Akins).

Meanwhile, Daddy Parks is eyeing up Alice with that lascivious way of his – until she clocks him with a skillet.

Mellencamp hardly sings a note in Falling From Grace, but his acting and directorial debut effectively captures the nuances of small-town American life without resorting to the usual cliches.

The story is a simple one which has the trashy makings of a hick town soap opera, but the characters are real, and the emotions run deep.

Aside from the tawdry sexual escapades, not much else happens in the film. Bud shoots pool with the boys, picks a fight with the old man, and gets himself all banged up in one of the strangest highway stunts, which must be a very local and very bizarre Indiana custom . . .

He clambers into a cage on the back of a pickup truck. He straps himself in, and the truck roars off down the highway. The cage is then kicked off the back of the truck, and it skids – sparks a-flying – down the asphalt as the good ol’ boys whoop and holler.

Perhaps it’s what kids do in Indiana if they’re too short for basketball.

Shooting in his hometown of Seymour, Indiana, Mellencamp gets all the little details right and evokes memorable performances from a cast that doesn’t really have a star in the bunch.

Larry Crane, a guitarist in Mellencamp’s band, turns in a fresh, unencumbered performance as Bud’s illegitimate half-brother, Ramey.

Bud Parks
John Mellencamp
Alice Parks
Mariel Hemingway
Speck Parks
Claude Akins
Grandpa Parks
Dub Taylor
P.J. Parks
Kay Lenz
Ramey Parks
Larry Crane
Linda
Kate Noonan
Sally Cutler
Deirdre O’Connell
Mitch Cutler
John Prine
Parker Parks
Brent Huff
Marian Parks
Joanne Jacobson
Bobby Tucker
Tracy Cowles
Terri Jo Parks
Melissa Ann Hackman
Grandma Parks
Mary Tom Crain
Country Club Manager
Sigmund Balaban
Turdis
Gary Boebinger
Luke
Toby Myers
Mrs Pendergrass
Margie Hopper
Mrs Sacks
Donna Cowles
Mrs Green
Edna Ryan Booker