Michael Ledo Henry Whipple (Dennis Quaid) has it all, a loving family, a successful business, and a mistress (Heather Graham). He is an aggressive seed salesman and farmer. His oldest son would rather travel the world and his younger son Dean (Zac Efron) is cynical and doesn't want to be around his father. He wants to race cars and have a good time with his "feral" girlfriend (Maika Monroe).Henry doesn't always abide by the rules. Dean has anger management issues. Things come to a head as Henry has to choose to make things right or face dire consequences.The film is an okay drama, that perhaps plays out better in Iowa. The characters nicely evolved in the film, although they didn't grab me. Might make for a drama rental at a low price.Parental Guidance: F-bomb, sex, porno magazine nudity of a topless woman with a male organ at her mouth. Must be the strong graphic reference mentioned on rating.

townnfarmgirl As an Iowan married to a farmer I was hoping that this would be a good movie. I was so bored and cared so little what happened to the characters in the story line I turned it off at minute 25. I can't remember the last movie I didn't at least try to suffer through. MAYBE it got better later in the movie, but I doubt it. The only redeeming quality about this movie was the landscape and mention of little towns and counties that I recognized, but it was filmed in Illinois so there was obviously nothing recognizable as uniquely Iowan (and yes, there are landmarks and sites that are uniquely Iowan). That's 25 minutes I'll never get back.

jcnsoflorida I'm aware of criticisms people have of this movie. I even agree with some of them. And yet, I'm sure I'll remember it for a long time and I'll remember liking it a lot. Yes, it's melodramatic. Yes, it has 1 or 2 bits that are trashier than necessary. (Hey, I like a trashy bit now and then.) Are the characters likable? I think so but when did that become the No. 1 criterion for evaluating a drama? Disclosure: I'm originally from a few miles where this was actually filmed. I feel like I know this movie. The cast spans all ages and I find it especially gratifying to watch emerging stars, there are a couple of those in this. The film deals with serious subjects but it's not a message film. Makes you think but does not --would not-- tell you what to think. Contemporary midwestern noir. Click on the trailer and decide whether to watch the whole film. Many of you will wanna watch.

valis1949 AT ANY PRICE (dir. Ramin Bahrani) If the film had just developed a single tangent, such as the troubled relationship between a father and son without all the other thematic distractions, it might have worked. Dennis Quaid turns in an exceptional performance as a GMO mega-farmer whose family has owned the land for four generations, yet no one in his family seems the slightest bit interested in continuing in the business of farming. However, because so many story angles are opened up and explored, the film loses focus. There's the story of the two sons- one is off climbing mountains in South America while the other aspires to excel on the NASCAR circuit, and then there is the sub-plot of the father's questionable dealings with genetically modified crop seeds, his sexual infidelity with one of his old high school cheerleader pals (by the way, they don't appear to have attended high school within two decades of each other), and the 'professional' relationship with his youngest son's teen-aged girlfriend (possibly the brightest point of the film). And finally there's that unfortunate second degree homicide that pops up out of the blue. It seems that the intent was to produce a film where the whole was greater than the sum of its parts, but AT ANY PRICE flounders and struggles with a handful of disparate elements that don't add up to much of anything except a credible performance by Dennis Quaid. As Archie Bell and The Drells used to say, 'Do The Tighten Up!'