Vernon, Florida

Errol Morris went to this town to make an entirely different film. Through the 1950s and 1960s Vernon produced close to two thirds of all loss of limb insurance claims in the United States, which earned it the nickname Nub City. Morris meant to document that, was threatened by the people he approached and was beaten by one subject's son in law. He gave that film up and shot something else in the same place. What emerged is sixty minutes of townspeople talking at the camera. One man is consumed by turkey hunting, another believes the sand in his jar is growing, a preacher works at length through the meaning of a single word. Nobody tells a story and nothing arrives anywhere. The abandoned film hangs over this one, and that is a real flaw. Anyone who knows the insurance history spends the running time listening for what is not being said, while anyone who does not may find the whole thing aimless. Who it is for: documentary viewers who watch for character. Who it is not for: anyone who needs structure and a destination.