Au Pair, Kansas

I saw Au Pair, Kansas at "Action on Film" this year and thought it was the highlight of the entire week-long fest. Even though it looked like a pretty worthwhile film from the trailer, I was still surprised by how much I enjoyed it -- and it being made on a budget never crossed my mind.

The story is wonderfully unconventional, constantly surprising you with inspired moments that really hit the mark. And even though the projection conditions at AOF were less than ideal, the cinematography was clearly amongst the most absolutely gorgeous stuff you'll likely see in this budget range, certainly holding up against (and surpassing) many mainstream releases.

I appreciated the respect the script has for an intelligent audience -- clichés are thrown out the window to the point where I almost never could predict what would happen next, yet it always managed to feel like a natural (and often touching) outcome. There's a few spots that didn't resonate fully, and sometimes the slightly more goofy aspects come at odds with the more somber material, but it works far far more than it misses. The end result is a film that I really can't say I've seen anything quite like. As a filmmaker myself, there are a few things I can learn from pieces like this.

Seek it out! It's charming, funny and heartwarming. If this is JT O'Neal's first feature-length outing as a writer/director, I hope we get the chance to see many more.