Indie film producer Allan Mindel made his directorial debut with Milwaukee, Minnesota, a "self-consciously quirky" con story set in small-town America. It stars Troy Garity as a champion ice fisherman with learning disabilities who becomes the target for money-hungry lowlifes played by Randy Quaid and Alison Folland. Critics and British moviegoers were largely indifferent to this patchwork of clichés and it hasn't even scored distribution in the US. Still reading?

Mad In Milwaukee

Exclusive to this DVD is a one-on-one with the motor-mouthed director, which runs at almost 45 minutes. It's frankly dizzying and the effect is intensified by Mindel's wide-eyed mania as he babbles on about random matters. When he came across the script for Milwaukee, Minnesota he says, "I was burnt out," adding that he'd already ditched the movie business for a career in pottery! He recalls, "I hated the story and I hated the characters but I loved their souls." Specifically it was the innocence of Albert (Garity) that appealed to him.

Once Mindel had committed to the project, he was immovable, but many challenges lay ahead. Astonishingly the film was shot in 25 days over 18 months, mostly due to dodgy financing and erratic weather. "We were iceless due to a heat wave in Milwaukee," he explains, whereas other days were so cold that the cameras just seized up. He talks more about his guerrilla style of filmmaking in a garrulous audio commentary. Just to give you an idea of how low the budget was, he reveals, "My producer Jeff [Kirshbaum] also did craft services."

Gone Fishin'

Garity joins Mindel for the commentary and - when he can get a word in edgewise - offers up a few interesting but vaguely inane titbits. For example, he based the character on test cases for Asperger's Syndrome (similar to autism), but admits, "The cathartic journey that Albert goes on doesn't really fit the profile of someone with Asperger's." Um...

By this time you may feel in need of a lie down, but it's worth checking out the flash game Catching Fish - it's actually very well designed and annoyingly compelling. Still, you can't escape the feeling that this is merely padding to make up for the lack of behind-the-scenes access. In essence this DVD is a forum for Mindel to yap endlessly and, while he makes a few interesting points, too much of this could drive a person to pottery class.

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