
©Green and Gold Movie
Directed by Anders Lindwall, Green and Gold follows the tribulations of an elderly and grizzled Wisconsin dairy farmer as he tries to save his family farm from foreclosure. Though the film is set in the heart of America’s dairyland, there is nothing cheesy about this movie, largely due to the superb performances by its leading characters.
Originally titled God Loves the Green Bay Packers, the film was directed for Fathom Pictures by Anders Lindwall and produced by his brother Davin. Their effort skillfully merges the worlds of farm and football Eighty-year-old Craig T. Nelson shines in the role of Buck, who makes a wager with his banker that he can get more time to pay his debts if the Green Bay Packers win the Super Bowl. This despite the fact that Buck’s granddaughter Jenny, played convincingly by Madison Lawlor, is a budding singer whose musical talents could be just the ticket for the future prosperity of the family. Another notable performance is turned in by Annabel Armour, who grittily plays Margaret, Buck’s long-suffering wife, even as she lies comatose in a hospital bed after a fall from a ladder while doing household repairs.
Though Buck is a diehard Packers fan, the team plays a somewhat marginal role in the film. The players are seen mostly in video clips of past games—not in organic interactions with the other characters. Instead, most of the dramatic action in Green and Gold centers on the relationship between Buck and Jenny, and on Jenny’s involvement with the singer Billy, played by Brandon Sklenar, who acts as a talent scout and enabler for the young woman’s career.
©Green and Gold Movie
Above all, Green and Gold is a tribute to the endurance and perseverance of rural Americans. Though the film says nothing about current politics, it’s tempting to imagine that the family might be prime candidates for the MAGA movement. However, this is unlikely, given the fact that, in spite of their privations, they are not a resentful lot. They are churchgoing people, but there is no trace of so-called “Christian Nationalism” in their religious experience. It’s fair to say they would relate more to the Old Testament figure of Job than to contemporary figures like Donald Trump.
In an interview with the filmmakers published in The Collision, Anders told Daniel Blackaby how he and his brother Davin were influenced by the faith-based environment in which they’d been raised. Anders was quoted as saying: “It’s interesting. When we grew up, particularly in Christian communities, stewardship was always talked about in that you steward your family, your finances, your time. But when it came to the natural world, that was for the hippies. Which was funny, because for me, most of the close connections I had with God came through the natural world, through experiences I had sitting by a lake or amongst animals. For us, that was an important part to talk about, a farmer who is experiencing God in the work he’s doing.”
In its foregrounding of virtuous behavior, Green and Gold is reminiscent of Christmas chestnuts like It’s a Wonderful Life, especially in the final moments, when a long procession of friends and neighbors are shown dropping off donations to help Buck and his family save their farm. The film is thus a quiet testament both to the power of community and the persistence of grace in the American heartland.
©Green and Gold Movie
Rating: A
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Here’s the trailer of the film.