Michael Clayton (2007)

A law firm brings in its "fixer" to remedy the situation after a lawyer has a breakdown while representing a chemical company that he knows is guilty in a multi-billion dollar class action suit. A pivotal plot point occurs in Milwaukee, and the story a lawsuit filed by a Wisconsin woman.

Arthur Edens: Michael, I have great affection for you and you live a very rich and interesting life, but you're a bag man not an attorney. If your intention was to have me committed you should have kept me in Wisconsin where the arrest report, the videotape, eyewitness reports of my inappropriate behavior would have had jurisdictional relevance. I have no criminal record in the state of New York, and the single determining criterion for involuntary commitment is danger. Is the defendant a danger to himself or to others. You think you got the horses for that? Well good luck and God bless, but I'll tell you this: the last place you want to see me is in court.

Its Always Sunny In Philadelphia (2009)

Season 5 : Episode 2 -- The Gang Hits the Road

At the end of the episode the guys play a drinking game at Paddy's Pub that involves naming all 50 of the United States. Charlie offers "Milwaukee" as an answer.

American Movie (1999)

Of course we have to mention American Movie. On the northwest side of Milwaukee, Mark Borchardt dreams the American dream: for him, it's making movies. Using relatives, local theater talent, slacker friends, his Mastercard, and $3,000 from his Uncle Bill, Mark strives over three years to finish "Covan," a short horror film. His own personal demons (alcohol, gambling, a dysfunctional family) plague him, but he desperately wants to overcome self-doubt and avoid failure. In moments of reflection, Mark sees his story as quintessentially American, and its the nature and nuance of his dream that this film explores.

Parts of the film were shot at UW-Milwaukee (my alma mater) and there is even one scene where you can see the house of a mutual friend of mine.

It's A Great Feeling (1949)

Doris Day plays waitress at the Warner Brothers commissary is anxious to break into pictures. She thinks her big break may have arrived when actors Jack Carson and Dennis Morgan agree to help her. She was from Gurkees Corners, Wisconsin and mentions it frequently throughout the movie.

Bottle Shock (2008)

“Bottle Shock”, the 2008 Indy film very loosely based on George Taber’s Judgment in Paris, retells the “stunning upset” of unknown California wines from Chateau Montelena and Stag’s Leap over some of France’s fabled icons such as Haut-Brion and Mouton Rothschild in a blind 1976 Paris tasting with the crème de la crème of the French wine establishment as judges. The movie, starring Alan Rickman and Bill Pullman, briefly mentions Milwaukee.

Maurice: I just read an article that said California is gonna produce wine that will rival the finest of the French. And when that happens, I'm going home.
Steven Spurrier: No offense, but I don't foresee the imminent cultivation of the Chicago vine.
Maurice: I'm from Milwaukee.

Waynes World (1992)

Slackers and public access cable show hosts Wayne Campbell (played by Mike Meyers) and Garth Algar (played by Dana Carvey) get the chance of a lifetime to meet Alice Cooper at his Milwaukee show. They have this memorable conversation:

Wayne Campbell: So, do you come to Milwaukee often?
Alice Cooper: Well, I'm a regular visitor here, but Milwaukee has certainly had its share of visitors. The French missionaries and explorers began visiting here in the late 16th century.
Pete: Hey, isn't "Milwaukee" an Indian name?
Alice Cooper: Yes, Pete, it is. In fact , it's pronounced "mill-e-wah-que" which is Algonquin for "the good land."
Wayne Campbell: I was not aware of that.

Titanic (1997)

This classic love story involving the ship sunk because of an ice berg, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet. Jack claims to have grown up in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. where he and his father would go ice fishing.


Rose: How cold?
Jack: Freezing. Maybe a couple degrees over. You ever, uh, you ever been to Wisconsin?
Rose: What?
Jack: Well, they have some of the coldest winters around. I grew up there, near Chippewa Falls. I remember when I was a kid, me and my father, we went ice fishing out on Lake Wissota. Ice fishing is, you know, where you...
Rose: I know what ice fishing is!
Jack: Sorry. You just seem like, you know, kind of an indoor girl. Anyway, I, uh, I fell through some thin ice; and I'm telling you, water that cold, like right down there... it hits you like a thousand knives stabbing you all over your body. You can't breathe. You can't think. At least, not about anything but the pain. Which is why I'm not looking forward to jumping in there after you.



(However, the lake which he claims to have fished at didn't exist at the time the Titanic actually sunk. Lake Wissota is a man-made lake which was made five years after the ship sunk. It's still a shout out to Wisconsin though.)

That Thing You Do! (1996)

A musical movie that Tom Hanks wrote, directed and starred in. The band he created becomes famous, almost like Beatle-mania all over again. One concert brings them to Wisconsin where the band members are mobbed by fans. As a group of girls climbs onto their car, one band members (played by Steve Zahn) says:

"Well I like Wisconsin."

Stripes (1981)

Bill Murray stars in this war comedy. John Winger (Murrary) and Russell Ziskey (Harold Ramis) are talking and Wisconsin makes an appearance.

John Winger: C'mon, it's Czechoslovakia. We zip in, we pick 'em up, we zip right out again. We're not going to Moscow. It's Czechoslovakia. It's like going into Wisconsin.
Russell Ziskey: Well I got the shit kicked out of me in Wisconsin once. Forget it!

Love Actually (2003)

British romantic comedy, "Love Actually," features a bar in Cedarburg when one character, Colin, goes to Wisconsin to meet American women (or babes in his phrasing). Plus it's a compliment when he says he's going:

"To a fantastic place called Wisconsin."

Good Night and Good Luck (2005)

This historical drama is about a broadcast journalist, Edward R. Murrow, who tries to take down Senator John McCarthy.

This movie makes numerous references to Wisconsin because Sen. McCarthy was the "Junior Senator from Wisconsin" (and frequently addressed as such).

Drop Dead Gorgeous (1999)

This satire about a beauty pageant in Minnesota finds itself amidst a murder mystery.

Colleen Douglas: [with forced sobriety] People, people - wait, wait a minute, here. Uh, while we haven't ruled out sabotage from neighboring state pageants - Iowa, Wisconsin, North Dakota...
Terry Macey: Yeah.
Colleen Douglas: Dakota.
Terry Macey: Ohio...
Colleen Douglas: That bitch from...
Terry Macey: What?
Colleen Douglas: Wisconsin.
Terry Macey: All right, then.
Colleen Douglas: The bitch.
Terry Macey: The important thing is that we have a winner...

Dogma (1999)

Dogma has two angels trying to find a way back into heaven after they were exiled to Wisconsin. British actor Alan Rickman plays Metranon, the voice of god, who hilariously explains that there's something worse than being exiled to hell:

"Worse. Wisconsin. For the entire span of human history."