The Last Big Attraction (1999)

Leed VanderWal (played by Hopwood DePree) is a young man poised to assume a key role in his family's dynasty -- he's supposed to inherit Windmill Island, a slowly-decaying tourist trap in Holland, Michigan where visitors can witness an "authentic" recreation of a 17th century Dutch village. Windmill Island's attractions include a squad of clog dancers in traditional costumes, a cheese shop complete with an artificial cow kids can "milk" and a gift shop with hand-dipped candles and traditional footwear. Leed has already put in a few years at Windmill Village and is wondering if he wants to devote the rest of his life to propping up a decaying dream or if he should move to Detroit to make a new start. Leed also finds himself falling for Chrissy (Christine Elise), a girl from the city spending some time at the family's summer cottage, which aggravates his buddy Christopher (Richard Speight Jr.) and sparks jealousy in Winnie (Victoria Haas), a plain girl from Wisconsin with a crush on Leed and dreams of rising from the cheese shop into the stellar ranks of the clog dancers. Shot for a mere $60,000 by actor, writer and first-time director Hopwood DePree, The Last Big Attraction was a multiple prize winner at the 1999 Newport Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi