Heaven on Earth

Branson is a rewarding refuge for filmmakers. This town of four thousand souls in Missouri in the United States has one theatre for every hundred inhabitants, is a paradise for entertainers past their prime, patriots and God-fearing Americans looking for a shielded life – in short, almost the perfect America director Rick Minnich is looking for. Minnich follows a few of the quaint characters that Branson boasts, such as the former war pin-up Jennifer Wilson, country star Barbara Fairchild, the singing and dancing prodigy Matthew Matney, and the actor who plays Christ in a pretentious musical. This produces hilarious scenes, but also shocking testimonies of short-sightedness. Like that of Paul Tibbets, pilot of the bomber Enola Gay, during the celebration of Veteran’s Day in Branson. Looking back on his mission over Hiroshima, he maintains: ‘We made no mistake, we did the right thing.’