To disentangle her son from the robbery charge, Linda and her son turn to Lenny Lake's grandfather, Ron Lake. The elder Lake is a strange character, a one-time felon who now works as a big shot lawyer. Ron just married the gorgeous but dangerous Sandy, and the two live in Ron's trailer adorned with a garden of sculptures made out of beer cans. Ron is as crooked as they come, though, and to get his help Linda and her trio of would be criminals must agree to split their take with Ron and his wife. Everything goes down the drain from this point, as the four rob a retirement home and a local eating establishment. They get the money, but they get double crossed too, an incident which leads to hilarious trailer trash retribution involving trailer stealing, fireworks, automatic weapons, and duct tape.

There are more problems with "Poor White Trash" than there are pluses. The organization of the film is a disaster, with scenes that run too long, sloppy camera work, and a script often bogged down with too much detritus. What this movie desperately needed was an excellent editor, someone to go through the scenes and cut out all the awkward dead weight. About half way into the movie, I started to suspect that somebody, maybe a studio, mucked around with the finished product and left us with a movie that is more often a hodgepodge of scenes than a seamless film. Another big minus here, at least for me, was the relegation of Danielle Harris to a minor role as Suzi (the one with an "i"), an employee at the local restaurant robbed by Bronco and company. Harris, who in my opinion could never appear in enough films, gets marginal screen time. At least we get one good shot of her smiling face, and I guess that is better than nothing.

Despite these problems, "Poor White Trash" works on many levels, and works spectacularly. I would be completely insane if I did not mention the stellar performance of William Devane as Ron Lake. I have never liked Devane as an actor, probably due to his appearance in too many of those unctuous "movie of the week" productions. But here he shines like the sun. Devane has all of the best lines of the film, none of which are reproducible here because they usually deal with romantic entanglements in prison. His outfits are hilarious, his law office, located in a mall, bears the name "Land o' Law," and his philosophy about beautiful women is a scream. Devane chews the scenery in this film and it is a better movie because of it. Devane's role along with numerous effective sight gags, helps propel "Poor White Trash" to easily watchable levels.

The DVD throws in a commentary by Sean Young and director Michael Addis, as well as some production stills, three trailers for three obscure films I never heard of, and cast and crew profiles. Add in these extras with the actual film, and you have yourself an effective way to burn a few hours. "Poor White Trash" will never win any awards, but it ultimately delivers with good performances and some good gags.

Linda Bronco just wants to be a "normal mother," but that's not in the cards for this latter-day Ma Barker. In fact, there's nothing normal in the entire film. Everyone lives in a trailer--even Uncle Ron--the legal eagle--who has made a formidable beer can sculpture garden to enhance his trailer's attractiveness. And Uncle Ron even has a pool--not quite the traditional idea of a pool--but a pool, nonetheless.

It's the perfectly drawn characters in this film that make it so hilarious. Michael's desire to be a psychologist runs as a standing joke, and Lenny treats his friend's ideals with respect while noting that "psychology causes people to have mental problems." Michael's dad is a pro-wrestler hoping for the cash to get a false eye--this is the one roadblock in scheduling a grudge match with an opponent. Ron Lake (William Devane) as the sleazy lawyer plays the role to perfection--the clothes, the swagger, the jewelry--and don't forget his t-shirt slogans--all add up to the lawyer who practices law with the intent of getting away with what he can. Ron Lake's nymphette wife--the manipulative and grasping (Jaime Pressly) is the perfect complement to Ron.

But my favourite character of all the great characters in this film has to be Lenny Lake. His one-liners, antics, and faulty logic--along with the looks he casts--simply make this film. "Poor White Trash" has no socially redeeming values, and no moral message, but it doesn't compromise on laughs. The film is deceptively clever and moves along rapidly from the first hilarious scene at the mini-mart right up to the finale. Due to language and sexuality, this is not one for the kiddies--displacedhuman.