John Ur heads to the land of Cheeseheads for his latest stop on the Cinematic Road Trip.
I had just finished scraping some bugs off the windshield when I looked out over a lake in Wisconsin, and saw some dark clouds rolling in. Until that point, the day had been sunny and breezy and comfortably warm. The wind started to whip through the trees and I decided it was time to roll out before the storm got too heavy. Not twenty minutes out of the city on I-90 and we’re beset by rain and wind. Rain started coming at us sideways, the wind sending plastic orange construction barricades sliding across the street, and 18-wheeler trucks had to pull off the road because the fanny-end of their trailers were going one way while their cabin was going another.
I pulled over behind one of these trucks when I judged it was prudent to get off the road (read: I followed everyone else). About fifteen minutes later, everything seemed to calm down a bit – the wind slowed, the rain straightened out – and the parking lot turned back into a highway as the cars cautiously pulled back on the road from the shoulder. I don’t know to this day if that was a tornado that blew past us, but in the month prior to my trip, Wisconsin had a record number of twisters.
This is a long roundabout way to say that weather in the north central region can be unpredictable. Sam Raimi found that out when he was trying to shoot A Simple Plan. Originally the movie had been slated to shoot in Minnesota (a la Fargo) but Raimi had to move production to Wisconsin because there wasn’t enough snow. In the film, Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton, and Brent Briscoe play three friends in need of some extra money, who happen to stumble upon a crashed plane that contains over $4 million dollars. They hatch a plan, a simple one no doubt, to keep the money without telling anyone about it. The plan, however, rests solely on the thin hope that all three men will be able to keep their mouths shut. I will stop there and let you draw your own conclusions as to how the plot works out... Many of the exterior shots of the film took place in Ashland, Wisconsin, including the road and woods leading to the crash site of the plane. But as cinematographer, Alar Kivilo found out sometimes you have to improvise – though the road and woods were shot in Wisconsin, the actual valley where the plane sat was shot in Minnesota and the two pieces were spliced together in the editing room. Sneaky Hollywood!
This isn’t the first, nor last, sleight of hand pulled by moviemakers to trick an audience. Though with such nondescript locations as a snow-covered road and a wooded valley, it would be hard for anyone to pick out that longitudinal jump without some inside info. Attentive viewers can spot a more obvious switcheroo in the camp comedy, Major League. The story revolves around the Cleveland Indians as they struggle through another awful season (which reflected the real-life Indians woes in the late '80s before they went on a successful tear through the '90s). Maybe the team in the movie had a problem since they were actually playing at Milwaukee County Stadium (former home of the Milwaukee Brewers). It’s tough always playing on the road.
Just an hour and a half west on I-94 from Milwaukee, the largest city in Wisconsin, is Madison, the state capital. The city may be the hub of the state government, but a drive through will show you that the University of Wisconsin is the major influence on the city’s lifestyle and culture. Badgers overrun the streets!
Back in 1986, the University doubled for the fictional Grand Lakes University in the Rodney Dangerfield vehicle, Back to School.
Dangerfield plays Thornton Melon, a self-made man with a large stock of
cash. His son, Jason, is now in college and struggling, so Thornton jumps in a car
for a roadtrip to go see him. The conversation between father and son
quickly devolves into “Well Dad, you never went to college, so why should
I?” and Thornton, with his newfound freedom, decides, sure, why not
go back to school? And the predictable antics ensue. I recognized a few locations in the film, including
a pedestrian bridge
over a roadway with “Grand Lakes University” in block steel letters
where “University of Wisconsin-Madison” is normally located. (I’m sure
UW alums can add more locales in the comments.)
This isn’t the only Wisconsin bridge to cameo in a movie. The Hoan Memorial Bridge, which connects 794 with Milwaukee, appeared in one of my favorite all-time comedies, The Blues Brothers,
which will be explored more next week in Illinois. The bridge served as
the “jumping off” point in the grand car chase scene at the end of the
film, as Jake and Elwood were being chased by everyone known to
mankind. The Nazis found their end on (or maybe off) this bridge when
their car headed straight off the edge of an unfinished section.
So although the weather may be unpredictable, for filmmakers and natives alike, there is one thing that is predictable. Given a lazy Sunday, channel flipping through cable TV, you will likely come across one of these movies (I think Major League is required to play at least 10 times a month on Comedy Central or TBS). And if you’re like me, you’ll predictably sit there and watch the whole thing even though you’ve seen it about 15 times (except for the beginning which I never catch), but you’re too lazy to do anything else except maybe eat a bacon, egg and cheese on a pumpernickel bagel. Mmm, bacon, egg and cheese. Oh, where was I? Right. Wisconsin. Land of Cheeseheads. Mmm, cheese.
Read More: Visit Wisconsin Films for a complete list of movies shot in the sate. And check out the previous stops on the Cinematic Road Trip here.
Photo:
Doug Connell via Flickr
Wisconsin - nice place! Bacon, egg and cheese - great food! John Ur - great work!
Posted by: Nancy | June 10, 2008 at 06:53 PM