Watch At Any Price For Free

As Good As It Gets

I like movies that are aware of what they are selling... without [any] greater aspirations than to make people laugh and that's it.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

At Any Price was marketed as a father-son drama about their different conflicts regarding the personal careers of both characters (Dennis Quaid & Zac Efron). It is quite such but in regards, both the characters having different aspirations. Quaid wants to be a successful family farm owner while Efron wants to be a professional race car driver. The movie is rather odd is some parts and not as touching or sensitive as lead to believe. With not very likable characters (especially Dennis Quaid) who mails in another performance, and Efron's character of being disrespectful to those in his corner.The best parts about the film were those featuring Zac Efron with the racing stunts, as this was the better plot and should have been the main focus, instead of Dennis Quaid and his corrupt seed farming/internally business. Things that were in question were a scene where Efron crashes his car into a tree (accidentally- driving in a cropfied) then is sent to a hospital. Later once he comes out of the hospital, he suddenly doesn't want to become a Nascar driver anymore and decides to quit (this was leading up to a scene after he had a bad turnout at a race). Overall, it was a very weird and off switch for the character, where we first see his keen aspirations of becoming a great race car driver then one bad finish and an accident causes a quit of his dream.The ending last 20 minutes or so (once his character 'accidentally' kills the rival) is quite something. The thought process and characters of both Quaid and Efron didn't seem as real people, and in the very end, the truth was never set free by either character. The film just ends. Poor ending but it was understood as the writers possibly didn't want to drag on. Though another 10-15 minutes could have worked. All together, At Any Price is quite a forgettable drama with little to nothing to prove that we have not seen before.

Review: Personally, I found this movie pretty boring but the storyline wasn't to bad. Dennis Quaid plays Henry Whipple, who wants his rebellious son, Dean (Zac Efron) to help expand the family business but Dean wants to become a professional racing car driver, which puts a strain on there relationship. Dean has a string of awards under his belt, for his racing skills but when he loses an important race, which is being watched by some potential investors, he goes into depression and his rebellious behaviour becomes worse. Meanwhile, his father's farm is under investigation because of some wrong doings with some seeds, so his son takes matters into his own hands, to find the culprit who hired the investigators. After an alteration with another farmers son, his father helps him to cover up what he has done, which brings them closer as a family. Dean then helps the business and brings in some important customers but his father finds it hard to live with the guilt. Its a touching story which has some emotional moments but I did find It a bit boring after a while. The acting is average from Efron and the rest of the cast but Quaid stands out from the rest. In all, it's an average movie which is watchable but not one that you can watch time and time again. Average!Round-Up: This is definitely one of those films that are made for TV, even with the popular Zac Efron in the cast. Its written and directed by Ramin Bahrani, 40, who brought you 99 Homes and a couple of short movies. The storyline isn't that entertaining, which might explain it's late release on DVD and the profit at the box office is pretty poor, so it didn't go down well with audiences. With that aside, I was quite surprised with the major turn in the movie, after the alteration in the field but apart from that, it's your everyday family drama which is basically what it says on the tin.Budget: N/A Worldwide Gross: $490,000I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/thrillers starring Zac Efron, Dennis Quad, Kim Dickens, Clancy Brown, Heather Graham, Maika Monroe and Chelcie Ross. 3/10

This whole comment might be a spoiler, so if you are going to see this movie do stop reading.Maybe it was my fault, but I started seeing this movie waiting for things to get a little bit better on the events in the screen, and they got worst and worst.By the middle, after a certain event (I won't spoil it telling you), we said it was enough and stopped the disc player.This movie tells a tragic story. A tragedy in the sense that the characters do everything to change their destiny and can't.So if you like tragedies, do watch this movie. If you don't, just be aware of what you are about to see.

Note: possible Spoiler AlertYes, this quote actually comes out of the mouth of one of the more irresponsible self-serving egocentric characters created for a film - one Henry Whipple. And that is only for starters. This mess of a film (written by Hallie Newton and adapted for the screen by writer/director Ramin Bahrani) is an American Midwest epic about crime down on the farm, but no one seems to notice that is the topic. It reminds us of that old Midwest saying 'He's so dumb he couldn't pour pee out of a side-laced boot with the directions written on the heel'.Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) inherited a family corn farm and continues the long family tradition of making it a success in Iowa - even to the point of becoming involved in a criminal malfeasance that has to do with seed. He has two sons - All American athlete Grant (Patrick W. Stevens), who has wisely left this station to climb mountains in Argentina, and Dean (Zac Efron), who hates the farm and loves destruction derby car racing and glibly tells his father he will have nothing to do with the 'family farm inheritance' - and a wife (Kim Dickens) who is so passive that her only positive gesture, other than serving lemonade to the annual customer appreciation crowd, is to give Dean $15,000 to join the racing industry - a waste because Dean is unprepared to cope with his dream. Henry womanizes with Meredith (Heather Graham) - so does Dean - but that's OK. Dean robs and murders, but that's OK. And when the Whipple farm faces a possible end, Henry lies his way out of it with some wimpy reparation and more lemonade and dancing at the customer appreciation picnic. Even Dean's abused well-meaning girlfriend (Maika Monroe) is able to just smile and move on. The only character who seems to have some respect is our mountain climbing Grant who has left this weakened family. End.It might be possible to simple label this flimsy little film as boring, but it is so meaningless and mean-spirited that it likely will cause a mix of anger and disgust in the viewer. Have we really dropped this low in the lack of decency? Grady Harp