The lead character in this story is a college student who comes from a
poor household in New Jersey and screws up his financial aid situation. As
a result, he ends up putting himself through film school by working odd
jobs, milking multiple credit cards, and sleeping in the nooks and
crannies of New York, essentially living as a homeless person.
This film is an exceptional effort from a very young man who has lived
a life very much like (although not precisely the same as) the one
assigned to his lead character. Although the film is intensely personal,
it doesn't stray into typical indie territory. There are no anti-corporate
riffs, no quixotic solutions to world hunger, and no gay junkies dying of
AIDS. In fact, the film ridicules those kinds of indie films and the
pretentious people found in New York film schools. This particular movie
has no particular axes to grind nor windmills to tilt at. The script
consists of a guy telling a fictionalized version of his own life, sharing
the places he's been and the people he's met. Of course, that could be a
recipe for disaster if the filmmaker were extremely egocentric or if his
life were extremely boring, but in this case neither is true. David
Spaltro has led a unique life, has met many colorful characters, and has
maintained a down-to-earth sense of humor about himself and the world.
Atypically for low-budget movie makers, Spaltro managed to come up with
a spectacularly good sound track. He pulled it off with a bit of
street-smart ingenuity. He, the struggling filmmaker, contacted many
struggling musicians and songwriters and asked them if they'd like to go
along for the ride on his film. Many of them agreed enthusiastically (and
economically) because they need the exposure. As a result, ... Around is
scored as well as any Hollywood film. the songs are both affecting and
appropriate for the context in which they are used. The only difference
between this sound track and that of a big-budget movie is that the songs
are simply good, rather than good and familiar.
Although the writer/director is about the same age as the guy who
directed Palo Alto, Ca, and although both films
are excellent, they cannot be compared. There is no contrivance at all in
... Around. The lead character has some successes and finds a measure of
happiness, but he also fails in his major relationships with the two
important women in his life, his mother and his girlfriend. Some of that
failure is his fault. Some is theirs. Most of it happens just because they
are human beings and have a hard time sorting things out, like the rest of
us. Because all of the characters and situations ring true-to-life, you
may find some of the plot twists disappointing if you are accustomed to
the usual Hollywood formulas. The characters in this film almost never do
what we hope they will do. We'd love to see the lead and his kinda-sorta
girlfriend work things out better because they are both good people and
they seem to need each other, but they are also real human beings and
therefore their lives just don't mesh together as conveniently as they
might if they were scripted for Kate Hudson. There is also a long-time
homeless guy we are rooting for. He shepherds our hero through the rough
times on the streets, and we'd love to see him rescued from his life by
some kind of Hollywood miracle because he's a decent and obviously
intelligent man. Not gonna happen. We just have to accept that his life is
what it is, and is probably not going to change.
In fact, we don't even know if our hero's life will change. He gets his
film made, but after that ... ?
Oh, hell, we don't even know if the real-life filmmaker's life will
change after having told his story successfully. Mr. Spaltro got a
good film made by maxxing out more than a dozen credit
cards. Unfortunately, his ending is ambiguous. So far, there's no
theatrical deal and no DVD. Because the film has been screened at some
minor festivals and because the director has actively been distributing
screeners, this may be the only film in the IMDb database with more
reviews (15 as I write this) than votes (9).
Will anyone besides film critics ever see the film? Will Spaltro ever
be able to pay off those credit card balances?
Stay tuned.
