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a-lafleche
Reviews
Greater Southbridge (2003)
Dishonest and exploitive view of of a small town
I grew up in Southbridge but haven't lived there for many years. The film maker use several people with mental illness, mental retardation and/or substance abuse issues and portrays them as the typical residents of this aging mill town that has lost, as many mill towns have, its industrial base. Much of the residential infrastructure was geared to mill workers...tenements and generally modest single family housing. Its location is just far enough from the bigger cities of Springfield and Worcester to have kept it from becoming a bedroom community for many years, limiting its growth potential. The film maker seems to revel in the misfortune of the people he profiles, capturing racist, paranoid and delusional rants. One person is seemingly given a old bottle of soda to drink while he is sorting returnables. Those that find this funny would Pribilof have laughed at the geek shows of days gone (thankfully) by or have entertained themselves by driving by the asylums on Sunday afternoons.
Too bad I can't rate this a 0 star.