Quendrith Johnson

by Quendrith Johnson, Los Angeles Correspondent

If you don't listen to Moby, the magical musical wizard of performance/DVD/scores, Moby will listen to you. And that's exactly what happened at last night's LA star premiere of "At Any Price," starring Dennis Quaid ("The Words"), teen idol Zac Efron, Heather Graham ("Hangover"), Kim Dickens (HBO's "Treme"), and killer newbie Maika Monroe.

"At Any Price" has a score by Moby that sits shotgun in your head while you watch it.

Directed by secret foodie Ramin Bahrani, the film is ostensibly a farm saga, a father-son tug-of-war in the Age of Agri-business where a Monsanto-like entity is patenting GMO seeds. And enforcing their "patents on life" itself like a ball-breaking eco-syndicate. Clancy Brown ("Cowboys & Aliens," "Shawshank Redemption") plays a rival grower whose son gets caught up in a melee with Zac Efron's character that leads to a spoiler alert. Heather Graham ("Hangover") plays a superhot elder babe sleeping with Zac and Dennis (nice), while long suffering wife (also nicely portrayed) Kim Dickens is the glue that holds them all together.

But wait, what's that sound again? It soars, undulates, through wide shots of Iowa corn fields; populates cumulous clouds over flat green manicured fields; evokes poetic moments: it is a hit. The Third Person Omniscient in "At Any Price" is, as mentioned, the score by Moby, which is the stage name of a very interesting musician from Darien, Connecticut, who is, as you may know, fairly renown. Not just from his smash hit private session via LA's KCRW, or world tours, or amazingly orchestrated live impromptu-feeling performances to sold out crowds, but from scoring "The Bourne Legacy" (Jeremy Renner), among other projects.

And on the red carpet, Moby makes himself available to sound this picture's theme: "we should know where our food comes from... Even if you are a meat eater, you will eventually become disgusted by where our food comes from... I wrote a book called 'Gristle' a few years ago about this..." With that Moby, The Vegan, disappears behind the lush opening of The Egyptian Theater, followed by flashbulbs.

Ramin Bahrani, the writer/director, had made a film called "Plastic" which apparently lead him into this Dore Schary-esque message-minded moviemaking. "At Any Price" is a narrative set against the backdrop of "modern farmers (who) run multi-million dollar businesses with highly advanced technology while doubling as genetically modified seed-salesmen, who constantly check the global markets on their smartphones." This is coupled with a "Death of a Salesman"-style generational breakdown between father and least-favored son (Zac Efron) while older most-favored son is defiantly in absentia. Dennis Quaid hand-picked the Willy Loman reference, and minted it himself in the press kit. What actually goes down is a tragicomic twist that is a head-scratcher, though, needless to say, the beef in "At Any Price" is with Big Food, not family business.

Heather Graham, who still rocks you back from her Roller Girl days with Mark Wahlberg in "Boogie Nights," insists that her character as the mistress who sleeps (briefly) with farmer and son, is "nothing like" the mistress-type she played in "Hangover." And then Ms. Graham also echoes the theme: "we need to know where our food comes from..." Followed by Kim Dickens (from the hit series "Treme") who is surprised to learn that Dennis Quaid told Heather "Last Picture Show" stories on the set, including all the tales from his older brother Randy Quaid, who had a role in that classic. "Wow, he didn't tell me that," she muses, and then goes on to praise Heather's work in this picture. Dickens herself more than holds her own, and opposite the very nebbish performance from Quaid, comes out like a fresh breath of realism in the room. Zac is a no-show, word gets out; he is busy brooding somewhere ("overbooked" that is).

Zac Efron, aptly named "Dean" in this possible "East of Eden" garden/farm sonic reach, surely smokes in the "troubled youth" role. Yet it is 19-year-old newcomer Maika Monroe, making her silver screen debut here, who is the fire for that smoke. Where did this girl come from (Santa Barbara, actually), because this one reminds you of natural like a young Natalie Wood crossed with a pinch of early-career Brittany Murphy, topped off with some weird charm of her own thrown in.

On the red carpet, Maika is a far cry from the dressed-down farm tomboy, Cadence Darrow, she plays on screen. In fact, decked out in heels and a Marquesa red-sequin-over-nude nylon gown, the kid is a show-stopper. "I don't know," how she thought Zac would be different than he was to work with, she says, "I thought he'd be all arrogant 'cause of the way he looks, but he's not." Their shirt-off PG love scenes in a homemade NASCAR steam, as Maika's character exudes raw girl-power. And she gets to slap Heather Graham's two-timing face, which makes a moment in itself.

Meanwhile, there goes Dennis Quaid, hoofing it down the red carpet a good half hour past curtain. You can still almost imagine him as the author in his recent release "The Words," who deconstructs his life in story. But tonight, Quaid does the walk for "At Any Price," even though he already walked this film through TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), and has gushed over Ramin's direction in so far as he couldn't use his "usual tricks" in acting. "(Henry Whipple, his character) is pretending they have this great traditional family when everything is twisted under the surface. He's sweating to keep up a front." Which is a complete contrast to the well-polished veteran actor, Dennis Quaid, who steps up for a quick stage bow with his director and cast before the picture begins.

"At Any Price" opens April 24 in a NY/LA roll out. Clearly this doesn't have the mega-budget for a huge marketing campaign, but the GMO (equals Frankenfood) missive seeded in this movie is worth spreading. And worth seeing, and certainly worth hearing as Moby floats through the fields of Iowa. Just listen.

# # #