Medusa Challenger is the story of two flower sellers, Uncle Jack (Jack Wallace) and his nephew Joey (Joe Mantegna), who sell flowers on the busy Lake Shore Drive bridge in downtown Chicago.
When the huge cement carrier Medusa Challenger causes the drawbridge to be raised and traffic to be stopped, Jack and Joey become separated.
The Medusa Challenger is an actual vessel that became notorious in Chicago during the 1960s and 1970s because the city's drawbridges often got stuck when they were raised to let her pass, causing delays similar to the setting for this film.
[1] The drawbridge over Lake Shore Drive at the Chicago River is one of the largest double bascule bridges in America.
A….masterpiece of economic cinematic storytelling…that in its flawless economy recalls classic shorts such as Roman Polanski’s Two Men and A Wardrobe.
"—Barbara Flynn, Film News "Engaging and quietly touching…The movie has the clarity of narrative and bittersweet view of human nature of an O. Henry story.