''Super Sucker'' is a 2002 film featuring Jeff Daniels,

Harve Presnell George Harvey Presnell (September 14, 1933 – June 30, 2009) was an American actor and singer. He began his career in the mid-1950s as a classical baritone, singing with orchestras and opera companies throughout the United States. His career re ...

Matt Letscher Matthew Letscher is an American actor, director and playwright, known for his roles as Captain Harrison Love in the 1998 American swashbuckler film ''The Mask of Zorro'' and as Colonel Adelbert Ames in the 2003 American film '' Gods and General ...

, and Dawn Wells.

Plot

Fred Barlow (Daniels) and Winslow Schnaebelt (Presnell), are the heads of two different door-to-door vacuum cleaner distributors, with salesmen who are competing for the same territory. Their rivalry becomes so fierce that the president of the manufacturer of the product, Mr. Suckerton, decides that for the good of the company, the town will have only one group of sales representatives. Desperate, and always the underdog, Barlow suggests a winner-take-all sales contest to determine who gets the territory. Well behind Schnaebelt from the very start, Barlow's sales surge when he learns of his wife's non-traditional use of, the circular nap nipper, a "homemaker's little helper", a long forgotten vacuum attachment.

Cast

* Jeff Daniels as Fred Barlow *

as Howard Butterworth *

as Winslow Schnaebelt * Dawn Wells as herself * John Seibert as Shelby * Guy Sanville as Leonard * Kate Packham as Darlene * Sandra Birch as Rhonda * Michelle Mountain as Bunny Barlow * Will Young as Clifford

Production

Daniels made Super Sucker in Jackson, Michigan, and

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

, with Michigan performers and technicians.

Release

''Super Sucker'' opened on 24 January 2003 ( Super Bowl weekend), on 125 screens in Michigan, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, Kansas, and Missouri, but never obtained national distribution. Purple Rose is the distribution company and the distributor.

"It didn’t do as well as we had hoped when we released it in the Midwest. We had hoped it would do better, but distributing a film, particularly by yourself, is always a dicey enterprise. The video and DVD deal is in place, so we project it will make its money back. Domestic theatrical distribution is just a very difficult thing." — Jeff Daniels

Reception

''Super Sucker'' won the 2002 Audience Award for Best Feature at HBO's U.S. Comedy Arts Festival in Aspen, Colorado. "I haven't a clue what this movie is about." — Christopher Borrelli, film critic,

Toledo Blade ''The Blade'', also known as the ''Toledo Blade'', is a newspaper in Toledo, Ohio published daily online and printed Thursday and Sunday by Block Communications. The newspaper was first published on December 19, 1835. Overview The first issue ...

. "I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. Jeff Daniels has crafted a comedy that is intelligent, well-acted, and laugh-out-loud funny." — ''Moriarty'',

Ain't It Cool News Ain't It Cool News (AICN) is an entertainment news website founded by Harry Knowles and run by his sister Dannie Knowles since September 2017, dedicated to news, rumors, and reviews of upcoming and current films, television, and comic book pro ...

"A solid mix of lowball and under-the-breath humor, Super Sucker is a balanced and worthwhile film." — Nathan Lichtman,

The Badger Herald ''The Badger Herald'' is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community, founded in 1969. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year and once during the summer. Available at newsstands across campus ...

"Super Sucker... is a terrible movie. But that doesn’t prevent it from being interesting and even admirable as a grassroots phenomenon." —

Jonathan Rosenbaum Jonathan Rosenbaum (born February 27, 1943) is an American film critic and author. Rosenbaum was the head film critic for ''The Chicago Reader'' from 1987 to 2008, when he retired. He has published and edited numerous books about cinema and has ...

, Chicago Reader (January 24, 2003) "Daniels (goes) for big, tawdry, gloriously cheap yuks. Bless him for it" — Tom Lang,

Detroit News ''The Detroit News'' is one of the two major newspapers in the U.S. city of Detroit, Michigan. The paper began in 1873, when it rented space in the rival ''Detroit Free Press'' building. ''The News'' absorbed the ''Detroit Tribune'' on Februar ...

"This is juvenile stuff (not a bad thing) and Super Sucker makes no bones about its meaning or pedigree (also not a bad thing)" — Erin Podolsky,

Metro Times The ''Detroit Metro Times'' is a progressive alternative weekly located in Detroit, Michigan. It is the largest circulating weekly newspaper in the metro Detroit area. History and content Supported entirely by advertising, it is distributed ...

References

External links

* * * * * * * 2002 films 2000s sex comedy films American sex comedy films Films set in Michigan Films shot in Michigan Films directed by Jeff Daniels Films with screenplays by Jeff Daniels 2002 comedy films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films {{2000s-US-film-stub