Vernon, Florida (1982)

My Review

“Vernon, Florida” was a hint of things to come from documentary filmmaker Errol Morris. The future Oscar-winning director (“The Fog of War: Eleven Lessons from the Life of Robert S. McNamara” 2003) showed early signs of genius in this, his second project.

The film has residents of a small town in the Florida panhandle telling their life stories in their own inimitable style, including a mechanic, a policeman, retirees from Chicago, a hunter, a man with a pet turtle, and a pastor who went out on faith to build a new church building.

Director Morris and editor Brad Fuller deserve credit for going from one interviewee to another, and back again, in a fluid manner. Director of photography Ned Burgess did a marvelous job in capturing the natural beauty of the rural setting of northern Florida, backdrop in this narrative about a slice of Americana called “Vernon, Florida.”