Thomas of The Daily Rotation wrote, "Director Ramin Bahrani‘s (Man Push Cart, Chop Shop, Goodbye Solo) latest drama At Any Price is a disappointing attempt at a strained father-son tale that takes place in the agricultural landscape of a small town in Iowa. Henry Whipple, portrayed by Dennis Quaid, is a farmer with a very ambitious “expand or die” mentality. Henry will do whatever he needs to do to remain the top Liberty Seeds salesman in seven counties. He shows up at farmers funerals to give his condolences and to buy the land off the family. He pays any price to insure the success of his three-generation family farm."
Collider:
The first trailer for the drama At Any Price has been released online. Directed by Ramin Bahrani, the film stars Dennis Quad as an ambitious farmer who is a father to a rebellious son (Zac Efron) with aspirations of race car driving. An investigation into the family business brings the pair together in order to preserve their livelihood. The trailer makes the film come off as a tad melodramatic, but I’ve give it the benefit of the doubt on account of the bounty of positive reviews that surfaced after the film’s festival screenings. In his review, Matt called it “a thoughtful, rich exploration of how there’s not enough American Dream to go around.”
The Playlist:
Of all the director/actor pairings of the year, the one between the acclaimed, but so far firmly arthouse-y Ramin Bahrani, the helmer of "Man Push Cart" and "Goodbye Solo," and Zac Efron, fresh-faced star of the "High School Musical" franchise, is one of the most curious. But after festival plaudits and rave reviews, Bahrani seems ready to break out to a wider audience, while Efron, to his credit, is looking to be taken seriously as an adult leading man, showing up at Cannes with (the admittedly badly received) "The Paperboy," and attaching himself to the remake of "Easy Money" and the Nicholas Stoller/Seth Rogen comedy "Townies," among others.
