Small Time

When you watch a movie, often times you build positive and negative off of expectations. If you go to see this movie, enjoy it for what it is.

'Small Time' is a relaxing movie that surprised me. Al Klein (Christopher Meloni), used car salesman, allows his son, Freddy (Devon Bostick) to work on his lot selling cars rather than go to college. Freddy is a natural, but is it what he should be doing with his life?

This is a story about closure, but the problem with talking about closure is, it would be just spoilers.

In life, we have to make choices and of course live with those choices; but some times it is hard, even 10 years later to accept what seemed like the best thing to do. We often lived trapped by those decisions, unable to move on.

Director and writer Joel Surnow, who has worked in television prolifically, used a succinct and condensed writing style that is often lost in movies. In cinema everything is drawn out, rushed, then drawn out between scenes of random events to show the director's 'artistic' capability.

Just about everything said in 'Small Time' had a point and added to the story; this story, each character had depth, history, feelings. Or, in the other words, 'The writing and the dialogue was good and I liked it' (and as a writer myself, I tend to hate more than I like).

There was psychology to these characters, thoughts in their heads. I was genuinely impressed. I could talk about the acting, but I felt the three main roles played by Meloni, Norris (breaking bad fame), and Bostick (older brother from Diary of a wimpy kid) were done professionally. Three capable actors, what else would you expect?

Now, some people might not find enough drama in this film to enjoy it. We are so conditioned to seeing murders and affairs and fights and violence in dramas, we don't know what to do without it. All I can say is, as a person who values his time, I did not feel robbed by this movie and I could appreciate the story and the characters.

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.

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!

To see my other reviews, feel free to check out tomhuang03.blogspot.com

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.

As a longtime fan of Chris Meloni, someone who in my opinion is an excellent actor, it boggles the mind why he would associate himself professionally with this piece of California based garbage. There is nothing that distinguishes this picture from many others of its ilk, father-troubled son conflicts and all the issues that go along with them. Written and poorly directed by Joel Surnow, a run of the mill comedy writer, Chris had little to work with, so I'll excuse him this time. Every actor makes clunkers and this was certainly one of Mr. Meloni's. Maybe he needed the money. Perhaps Los Angeles and the quintessential New Yorker Mr. Meloni is had poor chemistry. Whatever it is, 'Small Time' is a forgettable film. Don't waste an hour and 40 minutes of your life watching it, you'll never get that time back.