Viral TikTok Video Looks at Best Movies Set in Various Iowa Towns

A very cool, viral TikTok video has been making the rounds showing a plethora of films set in various Iowa towns. Full disclosure: just because a movie was set in a location doesn't mean it was filmed there. No less, Iowa is obviously not the first place most people think of when it comes to the setting of major motion pictures, so this kind of Midwestern representation is still welcome in my book.

I decided to look at each of the films in the aforementioned TikTok video. Below you'll find the film's trailer, and a brief rundown of the plot and the actors in the film. I'll also include a link to the respective film's JustWatch page, a website dedicated to telling you where a film/TV show can be streamed.

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Star Trek (2009), Riverside, IA:

Star Trek is an inclusion on this list with an asterisk. If you're not aware, Captain James T. Kirk (famously played by William Shatner in the original series) was born in Riverside, IA; on March 22nd, 2233, to be specific.

Every year, TrekFest is held in Riverside, IA to commemorate the significance. A younger version of Captain Kirk would later go on to be played by Chris Pine across a new trilogy of films, beginning with J. J. Abrams' Star Trek in 2009.

Find out where you can stream Star Trek (2009).

Cedar Rapids (2011), Cedar Rapids, IA:

I feel like this one needs no introduction, but I'll give it one anyway. Miguel Arteta's Cedar Rapids is a locally famous comedy revolving around a naïve insurance salesman (played pitch perfectly by Ed Helms), who is sent to Cedar Rapids to represent his company at an insurance convention. Being this is his first time, he finds himself in a club of insurance veterans as the group makes their own fun during what should be a rather mundane week of seminars.

Broad, funny, exist-only-to-make-you-laugh comedies like Cedar Rapids are hard to come by in this day-and-age, which makes this low-key gem that much more special.

Find out where you can stream Cedar Rapids.

Champions (2023), Des Moines, IA:

Speaking of another pure comedy, I caught Champions in theaters in 2023, and am still upset it failed to catch on at the box office. I still don't hear it brought up very much in film circles either. This is a very funny, moving comedy about an NBA G League coach (Woody Harrelson) in Des Moines, IA, who gets suspended after an in-game altercation.

He's sent to coach a group of developmentally disabled kids at a community center as part of his rehabilitation. The film was directed by Bobby Farrelly, one-half of the Farrelly brothers, famous for films like Dumb and Dumber and There's Something About Mary. Moreover, the Farrelly brothers have focused on individuals with disabilities in their films in a loving, inclusive way for years. They deserve more credit for the empathy and opportunities they extend to an oft-marginalized group of people.

Find out where you can stream Champions.

Field of Dreams (1989), Dyersville, IA:

Does Field of Dreams even need an introduction? I don't think it does. The film is an indispensable Iowa staple, and has been for multiple generations now. It's only become more relevant in recent years as the MLB has been hosting annual games at the Field of Dreams Movie Site in Dyersville.

Find out where you can stream Field of Dreams.

READ MORE: Iconic Field of Dreams Movie Site Sold to Local Non-Profit

The Crazies (2010), Ogden Marsh, IA (Fictional):

This one might be viewed as a deep-cut if you're not a horror movie fan. The Crazies is actually a remake of the 1973 George A. Romero film. The 2010 remake stars Timothy Olyphant (one of the most unsung actors of his generation) as a sheriff of the fictional town of Ogden Marsh, IA. The town becomes afflicted by a virus that turns those infected into murderous loons. It's entertaining, deceptively smart stuff.

Find out where you can stream The Crazies (2010).

Cold Turkey (1971), Eagle Rock, IA (Fictional):

This is one movie I really need to see. Starring the living legend Dick Van Dyke, and directed by Norman Lear, the father of the modern sitcom, Cold Turkey revolves around a fictional tobacco company that stages a publicity stunt: $24 million tax-free dollars to any town in America whose entire population can stop smoking cigarettes for a month. Van Dyke plays a reverend who encourages the town to do just that, but the town can't put down the cancer sticks.

While set in the fictional city of Eagle Rock, IA, Lear and company shot the movie in Greenfield, IA, and multiple residents served as extras in the movie.

Find out where you can stream Cold Turkey.

The Music Man (1962), River City, IA:

The 1962 adaptation of the Broadway musical The Music Man has been called one of the most famous movies to be set in Iowa. Set in the fictitious River City, IA, the film revolves around a con-man who tires to rob citizens blind, all while set to beautiful music.

An all-star cast includes Robert Preston (star of the stage version), Shirley Jones, Buddy Hackett, Paul Ford, and more. The film was nominated for six Academy Awards, including Best Picture, and remains an all-time classic of its era.

Find out where you can stream The Music Man.

The Bridges of Madison County (1995), Winterset, IA:

The Clint Eastwood/Meryl Streep drama The Bridges of Madison County is such a beloved movie in Iowa that the Roseman Covered Bridge in Winterset, IA (where the film is set) remains a popular tourist destination to this day.

Set in 1965, the Eastwood-directed film has him starring as a photojournalist, who arrives in Madison County, IA to photograph the area's famous bridges. While her family is away, an Italian war bride (Streep) has a love-affair with the photographer and falls deeply in love with him.

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Streep's performance earned critical acclaim, as well as an Oscar nomination, and The Bridges of Madison County retains immense popularity, most notably, of course, in Iowa.

Find out where you can stream The Bridges of Madison County.

The Straight Story (1999), Laurens, IA:

Earlier this year, we lost a true visionary filmmaker in the great David Lynch. Among his dense repertoire of science-fiction and surrealist classics also exists an initially unassuming but deeply heartfelt drama called The Straight Story.

Lynch's effort for Disney tells the story of an elderly World War II veteran, played by Richard Farnsworth, who decides to hitch his trailer to his 30-year-old John Deere tractor (max speed roughly five miles-per-hour) and drive 240 miles from Laurens, IA to Mount Zion, WI to see his estranged brother, who just suffered a stroke. It's the classic road movie with a human spirit that showed Lynch's proclivity for telling a story completely outside of his wheelhouse.

Found out where you can stream The Straight Story.

What's Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), Endora, IA (Fictional):

Although it was a box office bomb upon its release in 1993, What's Eating Gilbert Grape features a who's-who of actors who went on to have stellar careers.

Of course, there's Johnny Depp in the starring role as a grocery store clerk who has to be the man of his dysfunctional family, but there's also Leonardo DiCaprio, Juliette Lewis, Mary Steenburgen, John C. Reilly, and Crispin Glover in tow in this low-key Lasse Hallström drama set in the fictional town of Endora, IA.

Find out where you can stream What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

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