Jan Lewan, Polish immigrant, is a hard-working polka enthusiast. He works 18 day time jobs just so he can afford to keep touring the Pennsylvania polka circuit. His band, however, isn’t content to work for peanuts. In a bid to fatten their paycheques, he recruits some of his elderly fans to become “investors”, and he writes promissory notes guaranteeing a 12% return on investment. His investors are quite happy: Jan always finds new investors, so he can always cover generous quarterly payments. But then the FBI finds out.
The FBI gets one whiff of this and feel it must be some sort of Ponzi scheme. They shut Jan down, but since he promises it was an honest mistake, and to pay back his investors, problem solved. Except, in order to pay back his investors, he ends up creating a second, bigger scheme.
The thing about our Polka King is that he’s very, very charming. Jack Black is perfect to play him: guileless, open-faced, enthusiastic. Even when he’s dirty, his heart is squeaky-clean. Jenny Slate appears as his beauty queen wife, Jacki Weaver as his scowling mother-in-law, and Jason Schwartzman as his best friend and bandmate, Mickey Pizzazz. The film bubbles with energy thanks to its cast, and Jack Black’s eyes are never not dancing. Black’s been honing his indie acting chops these past few years, and it shows. But it never hurts that this wacky guy is exactly in his wheelhouse. It just so happens that this wacky guy is a real person, and if you were a polka fan in the 1990s, especially around Scranton, you may have caught a performance. But even if you didn’t, now all you need is a Netflix subscription. The screwball energy is infectious…although it must be said: directors Maya Forbes and Wallace Wolodarsky seem to love their protagonist a little too much. But heck, I love him a little too much too. The Polka King is endearing and entertaining. He may be conning his way into our hearts, but he’s there.
ASSHOLES WATCHING MOVIES 
Was he a con artist or was it an honest mistake? That’s the big question.
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I dig Jack Black and have no idea why!
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This is a unique movie, never heard of it. Thanks for bringing it up.
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Polka, you say? … hmmm … this one goes in the ‘maybe’ stack. 🙂
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Well, well, well… I was just looking at the documentary! Reckon I’ll need to give both of them a watch.
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I feel my parents took me to see one of his shows as a kid.
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I love Jack Black and his silly way of acting, it can be quite endearing. He seems to be as you mentioned, “guileless.” 😌 😇
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Looks like a unique movie…
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I enjoyed this movie a lot and Jenny Slate is awesome.
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I thought sure you were gonna say this was a movie about Lawrence Welk! LOL
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I loved the casting, especially Jack Black as Jan Lewan. The Netflix movie made Lewan seem more innocent than the documentary did, but that’s OK. Made for a really enjoyable flick.
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Agreed – he makes the film. And I also agree that the film makers just adore him too much.
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