Feeling Minnesota MPAA Rating: R Entertainment: +2 Content: -3 1/2

It's hard to like any of the bizarre characters in the quirky drama FEELING MINNESOTA. Two brothers, Sam (Vincent D'Onofrio) and Jjaks (Keanu Reeves) have hated each other since they were youngsters. Their mother (Tuesday Weld) sent Jjaks away when he was eight years old and now he returns for his older brother's wedding. Apparently Jjaks has spent most of his adult life in jail for holding up filling stations. Sam is an embezzling accountant at a local strip joint. His reluctant bride, stripper Freddie (Cameron Diaz), has been coerced into marrying him by their boss as a cruel joke. Mom's main concern is Jjaks not bringing his brother a wedding present, so Jjaks quickly robs a filling station and buys Sam a gift. What starts out as a slightly amusing situation quickly escalates into violent mayhem as Freddie seduces Jjaks and asks him to take her to Las Vegas. The two brothers continue their childhood rivalry. This is an ugly story in an ugly setting. Viewers will have no sympathy for these people and will find little or no purpose behind the plot.

The characters who populate this film can best be described as white trash, a totally amoral assortment of ne'er-do-wells. Freddie's goal is to be a Las Vegas showgirl. Her deepest thought is that everything that happens happens for a reason. She drags Jjaks into a bathroom where they have very graphic sex within a few minutes after she has said I do to Sam. Later, Freddie deliberately engages in unconventional sex with Jjaks beside a motel pool because she knows they are being watched. Sam is humiliated by his bride's revulsion and his brother's betrayal. He tracks the pair down, tries to frame his brother for a murder he commits and orders food at a diner without even cleaning the blood off his hand and shirt. Several gory fights include part of an ear lopped off, beatings and shootings, all with plenty of blood. Over 60 obscenities and several regular profanities add to the film's offensiveness, and there is breast nudity with the Las Vegas showgirls. FEELING MINNESOTA viewers will most likely be feeling very soiled by this morally sick film.

Preview Reviewer: Mary Draughon
Distributor: Fine Line Features, 575 8th Ave., 16th Floor, NY, NY 10018