Patriotville’s economy is suffering. Not even the train bothers to visit anymore. So Patriotville’s Mayor Fishback (Corddry) decides to build a casino on the town’s famed battleground site. But Patriotville County Historical Museum manager, tour guide and sole employee Chase Revere (Long) wants to preserve the town’s past.

CineVegas 2009

Patriotville

Justin Long, Emmanuelle Chriqui, Rob Corddry.

Directed by Talmage Cooley

IMDb: Patriotville

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Unfortunately, he’s the only one who does. The floundering town rebuffs Chase’s every attempt at saving the battlefield. As Chase’s slacker best friend and horndog sidekick puts it, “The town would rather be rich than have a rich history.”

While Patriotville elicits a few laughs, furnished mostly by the slacker best friend and a creepily skulking bureaucrat, the funny becomes more infrequent as the film drags on. Patriotville’s complete disregard for its own history places the audience squarely on Chase’s side. But besides being endearingly optimistic, Chase doesn’t do much else to earn our support. Despite his proclaimed passion for the past, Chase’s battlefield preservation attempts are anemic at best. And as his passion falters, so does the movie. Far too many scenes fail to progress the story and offer no entertainment value. Luckily, the unexpected ending makes up for much of the film’s faults, and Patriotville finishes on a good note.