I have an overinflated sense of right, maybe it is a correct amount of righteousness, however, it does get me in trouble. When I was 9, I got in trouble because I wouldn’t back down when the teacher was treating the girls differently than she was treating the boys. To this day, she was wrong, I just had no power in the fight but my sense of fairness.
Percy vs Goliath (dir. Clark Johnson) really spoke to my sense of fairness. Percy Schmeiser (Christopher Walken, doing Christopher Walken things) comes from a long line of farmers who save their seeds. He is accused by Monsanto, a huge multinational chemical company that he has illegally used their seeds to grow his crops.
Schmeiser along with his rock of a wife Louise (Roberta Maxwell) seek legal advice from Jackson Weaver (Zach Braff, people hate on Braff because of his goofy years on Scrubs but he put in a hell of a performance here). Weaver, in no uncertain terms, suggested that Schmeiser just pay the fine and go back to his life. Schmeiser, knowing he did nothing wrong, did not want to admit that he had. There is that damned sense of right and wrong getting us in trouble.
The case gets some attention and environmental activist Rebecca Salcau (Christina Ricci) comes in to support Schmeiser with his case, all while having her own agenda for the case.
The film is that classic David vs Goliath story, the title, obviously, isn’t that creative. This smallholding farmer from Canada against a huge multinational firm- you know who you are rooting for. The challenge with films like this is that there isn’t much personal growth. The characters, at the start of the film, are who they are at the end. It is very much a slice of life type film and in cases like this, I think the documentary form would best be suited to tell the story rather than a dramatisation.
The performances are all great. This was the sort of movie that used to get made all the time before the age of the blockbuster we are now in. Walken still chews up the scenery with his jazz-like delivery, putting emphasis on strange parts of words. Louise Schmeiser (Maxwell) provide a moral spin to the film, she did so much with just a look. Ricci was great, but not really given that much to do, and Braff brought a level of exacerbation that we were all feeling as audience members.
The challenge with Percy vs Goliath is that it is a very paint by numbers film that you would have seen in some shape or form already. It is not to say it is not enjoyable. With most of the stakes revolving around courtroom scenes, it almost feels like it needs a Sorkin-Esque dialogue re-write to give it some oomph.
There are great performances, and it provides a chance, potentially, for us to reflect upon how we act we the big boys push the little people around. Do we stand up for what is right, or put our heads down to avoid taking any collateral damage ourselves?
It is a story that should be told. I am a huge fan of right over might. That is why I stood up to my teacher all those years ago.
13 June 2021
By Luke McMeeken-Ruscoe