What these 5 Minnesota-set movies teach the world about Minnesotans

With the world acting like Gov. Tim Walz, whose star had been rising for years, dropped out of the sky a fully formed statesman, there’s an appetite for all things Minnesota.

Hotdish recipes, Minnesota-isms like “Yah, you betcha” and even that stupid grape salad fiasco are gaining traction as Walzmania takes the country by storm. So, it’s only a matter of time before non-Minnesotans look to movies set here for clues about who we are.

Are we the Lake Minnetonka-worshiping bad boys of Oscar-winning “Purple Rain?” The humble butter-churners of Oscar-nominated “The Emigrants?” The dropping-like-flies suburbanites of “Contagion”? None of the above?

We took a look at five prominent titles, four of which (like “Purple Rain” and “Emigrants”) were actually filmed here and another that (like “Contagion”) was set but not filmed here:

The movie: A bunch of 17-year-olds, including Kirsten Dunst and Amy Adams in her film debut, compete in a beauty pageant in a small Minnesota town named Mount Rose.

What it says about Minnesota: We love lutefisk (serving in a cafeteria, Dunst gets some in her hair), pulltabs (they’re advertised on a VFW sign), cookie bars, the world’s largest ball of twine and making fun of people with learning disabilities.

The truth: Even 25 years ago, its running gag about a disabled man (who’s called the r-word more than a dozen times) would not have flown here. And why does “Drop Dead Gorgeous” relocate the famous twine ball from Darwin, Minn., to the fictitious Bundy?

Funny accent? Very. It appears to have been learned from “Fargo.”

Local actors? Mostly extras but we get husband-and-wife theater dynamos Claudia Wilkens and Richard Ooms as, respectively, a pageant official and a minister.

Fun fact: Writer and Rosemount native Lona Williams had planned to call the movie “Dairy Queens.”

The movie: A car dealer (William H. Macy) arranges for his wife to be kidnapped. Things go sideways and a Brainerd cop (Frances McDormand, winning her first of three best actress Oscars) solves the case.

What it says about Minnesota: We’re unscrupulous, passive-aggressive and often dim-witted. At the same time, McDormand’s seemingly dopey Marge Gunderson hints that Minnesotans sometimes keep their intelligence under wraps to benefit from being underestimated.

The truth: “Fargo”'s image of Minnesotans may seem to carry more weight because filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen are from here and because the film claims to be based on a true story (it isn’t). But, just to be clear, the killer who disposed of a body in a bloody woodchipper? That happened in Connecticut, not here.

Funny accent? The funniest. Everyone pronounces the 15th letter of the alphabet like there are a bunch of o’s log-rolling at the back of their tongues.

Local actors? A bunch, including Guthrie veterans Bruce Bohne, as Marge’s actually-stupid-as-opposed-to-pretending-to-be-stupid partner, and Sally Wingert as an automobile customer in a duck sweatshirt.

Fun fact: The Coens’ original title was “Brainerd,” which would make more sense since a lot of the movie takes place there, but the movie studio said no one would believe that was the name of a real place.

The movie: Neighbors Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau fight over the charms of a newcomer to Wabasha, a literature professor played by Ann-Margret.

What it says about Minnesota: Hastings native Mark Steven Johnson’s script is packed with Land of 10,000 Lakes content. Spam, snowplows, ice fishing shack villages and signs warning of Eurasian watermilfoils all appear, as do many ice dams (although dams disappear from scene to scene with an ease Minnesota homeowners can only wish for). With Lemmon and Matthau constantly driving into snowdrifts and garbage cans, “Grumpy Old Men” also suggests that we’re not the best drivers.

The truth: According to a recent study, only six states have safer drivers than Minnesota.

Funny accent? None.

Local actors: Quite a few, including John Carroll Lynch, who makes his movie debut as a moving man and who later played Marge’s husband in “Fargo.”

Fun fact: “Old” Jack Lemmon was just 67 when shooting began.

The movie: The lone movie on this list that was not shot here, “Juno” was made in and around Vancouver, British Columbia. It’s about a pregnant high school student (Elliot Page) in the Twin Cities suburbs, trying to figure out what to do when the baby is born.

What it says about Minnesota: As Juno’s dad, flannel-clad J.K. Simmons has Tim Walz-type energy, and screenwriter Diablo Cody aces the Minnesota usage of the word “different,” meaning “worst thing in the world,” when the soon-to-be-grandmother of the baby says of Juno, “She’s just different.”

The truth: “Juno” gets lots of little things wrong, simply by not being made in Minnesota. Street signs and sidewalks look slightly off, and when Juno visits what is supposedly Ridgedale Mall, the stores are completely unfamiliar. Most egregiously? Somebody should have caught the frequent references to the non-Minnesota area code of 310.

Funny accent? None, which is surprising since the accent the movies often attribute to Minnesotans actually does exist in some parts of Canada.

Local actors? Nope.

Fun fact: Allison Janney, terrific as Juno’s stepmom, also was great as a suburban Minnesota matron in “Drop Dead Gorgeous.”

The movie: Based on Scott B. Smith’s thriller, it’s about the uneasy alliance created when three men (Bill Paxton, Billy Bob Thornton and Brent Briscoe) steal more than $4 million from a plane that crashed near their Delano home, leaving the pilot dead.

What it says about Minnesota: Perhaps the darkest movie ever made here, it takes a dim view of humanity but gets the details right: There’s tons of snow (although the production had to shift to Ashland, Wis., to find it), the isolated farmhouses look legit and you can see the actors’ breath when they speak outside (something that is not true, for instance, of the winter scenes in “Juno”).

The truth: There are probably Minnesotans foolish enough to steal money from some presumably very unscrupulous people. But would they also be dumb enough to sit around for months, waiting to get caught?

Funny accent? Nothing too noticeable.

Fun fact: Minneapolis native Tina Schlieske’s Tina and the B-Sides has a song on the soundtrack.

Previous versions of this story misstated where “Grumpy Old Men” is set.