''Percy'' (also known as ''Percy vs Goliath'') is a 2020 Canadian-American-Indian

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

film, directed by

Clark Johnson Clark Johnson (born September 10, 1954), is an American-Canadian actor and director who has worked in both television and film. He is best known for his roles as David Jefferson in ''Night Heat'' (1985–1988), Clark Roberts in ''E.N.G.'' (1989� ...

from a screenplay by Garfield Lindsay Miller and Hilary Pryor. It stars

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Prolific in film, television and on stage, Walken is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Awar ...

Christina Ricci Christina Ricci ( ; born February 12, 1980) is an American actress. Known for playing unusual characters with a dark edge, Ricci predominantly works in independent productions, but has also appeared in numerous box office hits. She has receiv ...

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

Luke Kirby Luke Farrell Kirby (born June 29, 1978) is a Canadian actor. In 2019, he won a Primetime Emmy Award for his guest role as Lenny Bruce on the television series ''The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel''. Early life Kirby was born in Hamilton, Ontario, to ...

Adam Beach Adam Beach (born November 11, 1972) is a Canadian actor. He is best known for his roles as Victor Joseph in ''Smoke Signals'', Frank Fencepost in ''Dance Me Outside'', Tommy on ''Walker, Texas Ranger'', Kickin' Wing in ''Joe Dirt'', U.S. Marine C ...

Martin Donovan Martin Donovan (born Martin Paul Smith; August 19, 1957) is an American actor. He has had a long collaboration with director Hal Hartley, appearing in many of his films, such as ''Trust'' (1990), '' Surviving Desire'' (1991), '' Simple Men'' (199 ...

Roberta Maxwell Roberta Farnham Maxwell (born June 17, 1941) is a Canadian stage, film, and television actress. Biography Maxwell began studying for the stage in her early teens. She joined John Clark (actor/director), John Clark for two years as the child co ...

and

Peter Stebbings Peter Stebbings is a Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter best known for portraying Kevin Sharp in the drama series ''Madison (TV series), Madison'', Paul Deeds in the series ''Traders (TV series), Traders'', and for writing an ...

. The film follows 70-year-old small-town

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan ( ; ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada, western Canada, bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and on t ...

farmer

Percy Schmeiser Percy Schmeiser (5 January 193113 October 2020) was a Canadian businessman, farmer, and politician. In 1954, he took over the operations of the family owned farm, gas station, and farm equipment dealership. He renamed the farm equipment dealersh ...

, who takes on a giant corporation after their

GMOs A genetically modified organism (GMO) is any organism whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques. The exact definition of a genetically modified organism and what constitutes genetic engineering varies, with ...

interfere with his crops. The film premiered at the 2020

Quebec City Film Festival Quebec City Film Festival (french: Festival de cinéma de la ville de Québec) (FCVQ or QCFF) is a film festival held annually in September in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada. It screens short and feature films and premieres movies from all over the ...

and it was theatrically released in Canada by

Mongrel Media Mongrel Media is an independent Canadian film distributor established in 1994 by Hussain Amarshi. It is the exclusive Canadian theatrical distributor for Sony Pictures Classics, Neon, and Lionsgate and titles from A24, Amazon Studios, Saban Film ...

on October 9, 2020.

Plot

Based on the events of Schmeiser Vs. Monsanto,

was a

canola Close-up of canola blooms Canola flower Rapeseed oil is one of the oldest known vegetable oils. There are both edible and industrial forms produced from rapeseed, the seed of several cultivars of the plant family Brassicaceae. Historically, i ...

farmer that received a legal action from

Monsanto The Monsanto Company () was an American agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation founded in 1901 and headquartered in Creve Coeur, Missouri. Monsanto's best known product is Roundup, a glyphosate-based herbicide, developed in th ...

. It has been determined that Percy's fields contained Monsanto's Roundup resistant crops and accused him of intellectual property theft. He unknowingly planted seeds that belonged to Monsanto during 1997; Monsanto wants all of his seeds and the profits he made with his work the following year. Percy was a seed saver and didn't use Monsanto's seeds, but his neighbors did and he believed this was a case of contamination. Seeking legal help from local lawyer Jackson Weaver, it was evident it was a losing battle as the laws favor Monsanto. Percy's life begins to suffer under the weight of the court-case. He and his family have become the community's pariah and his debts continue to mount. Rebecca Salcau, a representative of the People's Environmental Protect (PEP) offered to help, but it would mean Percy would have to publicly speak against Monsanto to gain media attention and earn revenue to fund his fight. Initially resistant in making it into a public spectacle, Percy became enraged when he discovered that Monsanto's men had been following him and destroying his reputation by labelling him as a thief. Fired up, Percy began engaging in public speaking events against Monsanto. Percy's public speaking and media exposure began to take on a life of its own. People throughout the world began offering donations and letters of support. As the fight against Monsanto continued, Percy realized his situation wasn't unique and was a global concern. While speaking in India, Percy learned the devastating effects that the agribusiness had caused, especially farmers who were committing suicide over severe debt and ruined lives. When he returned home, his wife has been hospitalized with a broken arm and it seemed they're slated to lose again. Jackson doesn't believe they'll win, but felt obligated to advise Percy that he could still appeal to the supreme court. Rebecca's own people can't financially support Percy anymore and withdrew their support. Percy was ready to admit defeat, but with the encouragement of his wife, he decided to appeal to the supreme court. When Jackson learned about Percy's decision to fight, he offered his letter of resignation; but Percy ripped it up and they went straight to work. Ultimately, the supreme court determined that Percy could keep his farm, but would have to give up all of the Roundup Ready seeds to Monsanto. With his home saved, the town now sees Percy in a better light and he returned Monsanto's property to them. Rebecca came to tell Percy that his fight with Monsanto had convinced Canadian farmers not to grow Monsanto's GMO wheat, and then US farmers followed suit, halting Monsanto's hold on wheat production. Percy resumes his work on the farm, preparing for the next season while his granddaughter was excited to take it over one day.

Cast

as Rebecca Salcau *

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

as Jackson Weaver *

as Peter Schmeiser *

as Alton Kelly *

as Rick Aarons *

as Louise Schmeiser

Production

In September 2018,

and

Zach Braff Zachary Israel Braff'Scrubs' Star Zach Braff Wows ...

joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay by Garfield Lindsay Miller and Hilary Pryor.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as actor ...

began in

Winnipeg Winnipeg () is the capital and largest city of the province of Manitoba in Canada. It is centred on the confluence of the Red and Assiniboine rivers, near the longitudinal centre of North America. , Winnipeg had a city population of 749,6 ...

that same month.

Reception

On the

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film has a 76% approval rating, based on 49 reviews, with an average rating of 6.2/10. The website's consensus reads, "''Percy vs Goliath'' teeters toward heavy-handed messaging, but Christopher Walken's work in the central role helps keep this fact-based story upright."

References

External links

* * * {{Clark Johnson 2020 biographical drama films English-language Canadian films English-language Indian films American biographical drama films Canadian biographical drama films Indian biographical drama films Films about farmers Films directed by Clark Johnson Films set in 1998 Films set in 1999 Films set in 2000 Films set in 2001 Films set in Ottawa Films set in Saskatchewan Films set in Washington, D.C. Films shot in Winnipeg 2020s English-language films Canadian films based on actual events 2020s Canadian films 2020s American films