Polk Salad Annie: The Movie (Ford V. Ferrari)

It gives me great pleasure to present you with this film review for Ford V. Ferrari. I would like to start by awarding the Music Supervisor of this film with a special make believe Oscar (the Autumnal Award) for being so awesome and including one of my favorite songs in two scenes of the film.

In the film, an instrumental version is used for a couple of racing montages. If you saw the movie, you heard the song's funky flavor but were robbed of the beauty of its lyrics.

The song is Polk Salad Annie. My mom played it for me when I was little and I loved it! I will treat you now to the lyrics of this amazing song, interspersed artfully with my thoughts on the film.

The opening of the song starts with a gravelly, soulful southern accent just talking to you over music. Real dramatic like.:

If some of y'all never been down south too much

I'm gonna tell you a little bit about this 

so that you'll understand what I'm talkin' about.

It gets very informational:

Down there we have a plant that grows out in the woods

And in the fields looks something like a turnip green

And everybody calls it polk salad.

Polk. (blues guitar) Salad. (trumpets!)

This seems like a slow start to the song. Ain't no real singin' goin' on yet. But they are just getting you up to speed. Much like Ford V. Ferrari. It started a little slow for me while they got me up to speed on the Ford Corporation and all the huge white male egos that all want to destroy one another for various reasons. Cool, cool. I thought the story telling was a little rote and dry in this early part of the film.

Down in Louisiana where the alligators grow so mean, 

There lived a girl that I swear to the world 

Made the alligators look tame.

Polk Salad Annie, Polk Salad Annie

Everybody said it was a shame

Cuz her momma was working on a chain gang.
(A mean, vicious woman.)

I mean what's not to love about this song??? And I warmed up to the movie via good to great acting, great editing and sound. I found myself routing for the rule-breaking, quintessentially American scoundrels as they tried to stick it to the fatter, less macho rule-breaking, quintessentially American scoundrels.

Everyday for supper time, she'd go down by the truck patch

And pick her a mess of polk salad

And carry it home in a tow sack.

Polk Salad Annie, the gators got your granny (chomp, chomp chomp)

Everybody says it was a shame

Cuz her momma was working on a chain gang.
(A wretched, spiteful, striaght-razor totin' woman)

Oh, no! Granny! I mean, what????? Chomp, chomp????????? It's the best song ever. Seriously. And they use this masterful song to move us through some very exciting racing scenes! Quick cuts, sound, pacing, all bringing you along for the ride. The editor of The Two Popes tried a similar style to depict the Papal voting process, but to lesser affect. The movie manages that thing where you know what is going to happen and you get wrapped up and tense about it anyway. That's a win for the editor, for sure. And the movie as a whole is solid if not monumental film making.

Her daddy was lazy and no count, claims he had a bad back,

All her brothers was fit for, was stealing watermelons 

out of my truck patch.

Polk Salad Annie, Gator got your Granny

Everybody said it was a shame

Cuz her momma was workin' on a chain gang.

(Sock a little polk salad to me. You know I need a real mess of it!)

Now please go check out the song because you'd never fully believe it otherwise. Polk Salad Annie by Tony Joe White