Poker Film 'Hitting the Nuts' Wins Over Audiences

Released to DVD on April 15th, the latest poker related movie to hit the screen is already creating quite a splash with audiences.
With the tagline ‘Even Professional Poker has a Farm System,’ the movie bills itself as the “true story” of the 2009 annual illegal poker championship held in Scott County, Indiana.
However, according to the DVD description the emphasis of this comedy mockumentary is actually about “an outrageous group of blue-blooded American misfits who have spent a lot less time hitting the nuts in life and a lot more time having life return the favor.”
Hitting the Nuts is a Rebel Pilgrim Production and was actually written and directed by Joe Boyd, who also appears in the movie as Amish farmer/poker player, Ezekiel Yoder.
Boyd has a background in comedy improv and despite writing the scenes in advance, incredibly used a selection of improv actors to fill in the dialogue parts during filming to give the mockumentary an authentic documentary type feel.
The resulting movie has since picked up a “Best Feature Film” award at the 2011 Derby City Film Festival, with the director Kristopher Rommel describing it as “Perhaps the funniest movie in the history of our film festival.”
Complete with a wacky assortment of characters including a returning champion, a busty waitress, a town preacher and a man who idolizes Phil Hellmuth, the film provides ample comical opportunities to mock those people who treat the game of poker way too seriously.
It also enjoys the support of Californian poker pro Jeff Madsen, who has 2 WSOP bracelets to his credit, as well as over $3.2 million in live tournament winnings.
Currently only available on DVD at www.hittingthenuts.com, over half the initial run of DVDs have already been sold over the space of just one week, with Joe Boyd saying he is now seeking wider channels of distribution for the movie.