Small Time

Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) owns an used car lot. Ash Martini (Dean Norris) is his second-in-command, Barlow (Amaury Nolasco) is the mechanic, and Gail (Ashley Jensen) is the new secretary with many excuses to go home early. Al misses his son Freddy (Devon Bostick)'s graduation but his ex-wife Barbara (Bridget Moynahan) and Chick (Xander Berkeley) don't know it. Freddy decides to forget about college and join him as a car salesman.

Writer/director Joel Surnow has made a couple of successful TV shows but none of his successes are in comedies. This is not going to break that streak. There are some fun sales techniques. The family drama is anchored by some good actors but it doesn't work. In the end, this struggles to gain any traction.

Yes, I liked the movie, it's not just a comedy but also a drama of a father and son situation, that most people can relate, all actors did a great job on their roles and were really believable. Dean Norris, I liked him ever since I saw him on Breaking Bad, and I felt his character was pretty funny in here. The movie develops very good and gives a lesson at the end of what real life is if you don't have an education, I guess. The movie has its moments and hits the comedy moments on the spot and get deliver really well, as well for the serious scenes that this movie display. I like the scenes of the car dealership when they are selling the cars, I liked the Hispanic guy he was really funny as well. As I was rewatching this movie I understood it more and I liked more than my first view, like I said before really good acting by all actors, I give " Small Time" a 5 out of 10 Stars.

It's hard to admit I was somewhat charmed by this indie, when one of the main themes takes place on a used car lot where fast talking salesmen will use every trick-in-the-book to sell you a car. Of course, there's much more to the movie than that, with family dramas and a coming-of-age tale being also a big part of the scenario. To me, it was mostly presented in a laid-back humorous way which appealed to me.

Chris Meloni and Dean Norris are excellent in their starring roles as Al and Ash respectively. They've been partners in Diamond Motors, a used car lot in Covina, California, for the past 16 years.

When Al's son Freddy, portrayed by Devon Bostick, is having his high school graduation ceremony, both Al and Ash attend. There they meet up with Freddy's mother Barb, ably played by the talented and beautiful Bridget Moynahan, who's been divorced from Al for 14 years, and re-married now to the rather obnoxious but very wealthy Chick (Xander Berkeley).

Shortly after his graduation, Freddy tells Al he doesn't want to go to college (Cal Poly), but instead wants to work at Al's car business to gain life experience and even wants to live with his father. This will set off a series of events and consequences which will result in some valuable life's lessons being learned by all.

All in all, I felt this indie sometimes lost its' way, such as very crass scenes of Al and Ash's buddies getting together for lunches, which although realistic seemed out of context to the rest of the film. Aside from that though, the movie, written and directed by Joel Surnow had enough humor and drama to keep me engaged throughout.

I just finished watching this film and to be honest, the poster and the title wasn't really too catchy for me, but I gave it a chance because Dean Norris (Better known as DEA Agent Hank Schrader for you Breaking Bad fans out there.) was cast as one of the lead actors in the film, alongside Christopher Meloni (Det. Elliot Stabler from the TV Series, Law and Order) and Devon Bostick (Rodrick Heffley from Diary Of A Wimpy Kid). Special mention to Amaury Nolasco (Orange Julius from 2 Fast 2 Furious), Xander Berkley (Henry Hurt from Apollo 13) and Bridget Moynahan (Helen from John Wick). The story basically revolves around a divorced co-owner of a used car lot whose son decides to skip College to come work for him on the car lot as a salesman despite the adamant resistance of his mother. The film is set in a time when smart phones didn't exist and having a cordless phone with the pull out antenna was considered a luxury, when . As expected, Dean Norris played his role quite exceptionally alongside his other co-stars, there was good chemistry between the the two lead salesmen especially in the scenes where they work in tandem to close a sale, I would have probably bought a used car from them. Personally, the camera angles employed were fairly simple but were maximized to good effect and weren't overly done. The film had a very natural feel to it in terms of lighting and warmth. Overall, I think it was very well made. The film is about 1 hour and 30 minutes long which is perfect for me given the flow of the story, it wasn't too short so it didn't feel rushed and it wasn't too long for the depth of story where it just becomes dragging.

I could personally relate to this film being in the field of sales as well (I'm a Financial Adviser for a Life Insurance company, part of our role is to sell our products.) so I was able to put myself in their shoes somehow, especially during the scenes that wherein the actors were making sales or attempting to make sales. Of course, the style of sales employed in the film is different from the life insurance industry (tangible product vs intangible product), it's still something that can be related to, specifically the scenes wherein the salesmen were rejected and the elated feeling they had when they made a sale. I especially like this scene wherein Freddy (Devon Bostick) and his father Al (Christopher Meloni) were at home and Freddy was telling his dad how amazed he was by how well they (Al and Ash (Dean Norris) spoke and made sales, he referred to them as "geniuses" and Al simply told him "Trust me, we're not. We're hungry. We close deals or we don't eat." which is similar to something a good friend of mine told me when he was starting out in the Life Insurance industry and he's now gone on to be one of the very best Financial Advisers in the field today. Another part of the film that I liked was again, another conversation between father and son, they were talking about life and how it can be complicated, it's something that made me smile and feel understood, hearing the lines "Sometimes it's really shitty. Sometimes it's miraculous". This movie is by no means a father and son tearjerker film but it is a feel good movie that's rolled into a partially serious and partially witty and humorous package that will leave you with some lessons about life and a few quotable quotes.

Whether you're a salesman or just a man (or woman) looking for an enjoyable film, I'd recommend the film, Small Time.

Thanks for reading!

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(2014) Small Time COMEDY DRAMA

Written and directed by Joel Surnow that has owner of an used car salesman, Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) attempting to reunite with his son, Freddie Klein (Devon Bostick) by allowing him to work alongside with him, also as a sleazy used car salesman along side with his partner, Ash Martini (Dean Norris), Al's mechanic, Barlow (Amaury Nolasco) and finally, Al's secretary, Gail (Ashley Jensen). As opposed to what Al's ex Barbara (Bridget Moynahan) actually wanted her son to do which was to go to college and graduate from high school. There's something humorous about the entire set up of a sleazy car dealer reuniting with his somewhat of an estranged son.