A cool little film for the teens and young lovers, All These Small Moments opens today and the acting, story and direction are more than adequate. The story may be a bit on the hackneyed side, but the film is still worth a watch.
Howie (Brendan Meyer) teenager goes to his high school by public bus, his parents, Carla Sheffield (Molly Ringwald) and Tom (Brian d’Arcy James) are having a mid-life crisis and are not working through their marriage well. His brother Simon (Sam McCarthy) has been a crutch for Howie, a friend and being their when he needs him most. On the way to school one day he finally gets noticed by Odessa (Jemima Kirke), a 30 year old who rides the bus to work each day. However, since he has a broken arm, he gets out of Gym Class and has to go to the library where he meets Lindsey (Harley Quinn Smith) who has a crush on him.
The film progresses from there involving his parents fighting and a romance blooming with Odessa. Things get complicated with Lindsey trying every which way she can to get noticed. When all the laws of love start to come together for all concerned, the sparks begin to burst their bubbles. Director Melissa Miller Costanzo uses her actors well with Molly Ringwald as the dotting mother who finds herself rethinking her humdrum marriage and Brian d’Arcy James as the befuddled father in a midlife crisis being ignored sexually by her wife. She touches on Simon’s coming of age and being confused about his parent’s relationship that seems to him as heading for divorce.
But, the prize here is the performance by Brendan Meyer as Howie a boy who’s on the edge of adulthood looking for comfort from someone way above his prospect for a realistic future. The ensemble cast is excellent in support and Meyer takes that advantage to build a moving character that finds him having to make decisions on life’s challenges. It is his character that makes the film work.
Take a walk down memory lane and for those of you that were teens in the 1980’s should remember the idol Molly Ringwald who stole the hearts of many in films like Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1986) and my favorite Pretty in Pink (1986). In All These small Moments she gets to play the mother she had to deal with in those films. Her performance here is fine and does support Meyer’s character as well as taking a bite out of married life that seems to be common now days. She still features that fiery red hair, pouting lips and soft brown eyes that made her early career take off. Still working it on TV, you can see her on the series “Tales of the City” and on film in her upcoming Kingfish where she plays Wolcott.
All These Small Moments has not been rated by the MPAA, but contains language and sexual inferences.
FINAL ANALYSIS: A nice film for romantics and teens. (3 out of 5 Stars)
Additional Film Information:
Cast: Molly Ringwald, Brendan Meyer, Jemima Kirke, Harley Quinn Smith
Directed and written by: Melissa Miller Costanzo
Genre: Drama, Romance
MPAA Rating: Not Rated, language
Running Time: 1 hr. 40 min.
Opening Date: January 17, 2019
Distributed by: Orion Classics
Released in:In tbeaters Standard format, VOD, Digital HD
Writer, critic, film editor John Delia, Sr. has been on all sides of the movie business from publications to film making. He has worked as a film critic with ACED Magazine for more than 20 years and other publications for a total of 40 years. He earned a Bachelor’s degree in communications from the University of Florida. John is a member of the Southeastern Film Critics Association and Critics Association of Central Florida Send John a message at jdelia@acedmagazine.com
