Movie Review - At Any Price

At Any Price (2013)

Starring Dennis Quaid, Zac Efron, Kim Dickens, Heather Graham, Maika Monroe, and Clancy Brown
Directed by Ramin Bahrani

Despite decent performances from Dennis Quaid and Zac Efron, At Any Price is a heartland-set drama that plays more like a soap opera than a legitimate movie.  Quaid is Henry Whipple, a Midwestern farmer who sells seed to his fellow agriculturists.  Henry's son Dean (Efron) lived in the shadow of his older brother who, after he went off to college, left Dean to feel the brunt of Henry's desire to pass his farm down to one of his sons.  Dean, however, just wants to race cars leading to tension between father and son.

Beyond this little familial tiff, there are several other "issues" that come to the forefront as the movie progresses that elevate the drama.  Some of these elements work...some are laughable.  Quaid tackles these hurdles by making his character irritatingly chipper which works at moments and doesn't at others.  Efron comes off a bit better, proving that there may be potential for something from the young actor, but once again, he's not given much to stretch his acting chops here.  (Parkland and The Paperboy also allowed him to give decent performances, but also didn't give him a chance to really shine.)

The RyMickey Rating:  C