Rita is a hyperactive whirlwind of a mom. Trying to protect son Matt from the past horrors that mark them both, she's single and not good at keeping a job. Mighty funny at times but mostly a tight, engaging character study with vibrant lead performances by Callie Thorne (TV's "Homicide") and Rufus Read ("Happiness"), "Double Parked" is a promising debut from director/co-writer Stephen Kinsella.
Winner of the Moviemaker Breakthrough Award at this year's Slamdance Film Festival in Park City and a crowd-pleaser at the recent Santa Barbara (Calif.) International Film Festival, "Double Parked" screened Wednesday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood as part of the American Cinematheque's Best of Slamdance evening. Touching and occasionally harrowing, as well as off the beaten path, this low-budget indie will remind some of "Sling Blade" and deserves a shot at reaching discerning audiences in art houses and on cable and video.
In Kinsella and Paul Solberg's screenplay, Rita (Thorne) and young Matt are first seen barely surviving a horrible relationship with a violent man. Ten years later, she's barely keeping them off the streets, and Matt (Read), a cheerful but fragile lad, is suffering from cystic fibrosis and a shortage of friends.
The thrust of the plot follows their separate but related tracks as Rita gets a job as a meter maid and Matt starts hanging out with a troublemaking schoolmate (Noah Fleiss). From pranks and petty crime to smoking a cigar, Matt flirts with more dangers than he knows. Protective, paranoid, rude, but mostly lovable, Rita is her own worst enemy -- that is, until Matt's evil father and all-around basher Warren (P.J. Brown) returns to shakes things up.
Thorne and Read are a marvel together. Matt's morning routine, dictated by his condition, and Rita's almost feverish intensity doing just about anything are indicative of the unique chemistry the actors achieve as characters who are bound by the struggle to survive but often are seen apart going through misadventures in living, working and growing up.
With an agreeable supporting cast that includes William Sage, Michelle Hurd and Eileen Galindo, "Double Parked" is a little too predictable in its overarching story of Rita's campaign to be rid of Warren, but there are many admirable achievements in Kinsella's no-frills approach.
DOUBLE PARKED
Fierce Films
a 44th Street Films production
Director:Stephen Kinsella
Screenwriters:Stephen Kinsella, Paul Solberg
Producers:Stephen Kinsella, Matthew Myers
Executive producer:Mark Montgomery
Director of photography:Jim Denault
Production designer:Anthony Gasparro
Editor:Seth E. Anderson
Costume designer:Monica Willis
Music:Craig Hazen, David Wolfert
Casting:Adrienne Stern
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rita Ronaldi:Callie Thorne
Matt Ronaldi:Rufus Read
Bret:Noah Fleiss
Warren:P.J. Brown
Lola:Michelle Hurd
Karl Severson:William Sage
Dolores Gonzalez:Eileen Galindo
DiDonna:Cassandra Morris
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
Winner of the Moviemaker Breakthrough Award at this year's Slamdance Film Festival in Park City and a crowd-pleaser at the recent Santa Barbara (Calif.) International Film Festival, "Double Parked" screened Wednesday at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood as part of the American Cinematheque's Best of Slamdance evening. Touching and occasionally harrowing, as well as off the beaten path, this low-budget indie will remind some of "Sling Blade" and deserves a shot at reaching discerning audiences in art houses and on cable and video.
In Kinsella and Paul Solberg's screenplay, Rita (Thorne) and young Matt are first seen barely surviving a horrible relationship with a violent man. Ten years later, she's barely keeping them off the streets, and Matt (Read), a cheerful but fragile lad, is suffering from cystic fibrosis and a shortage of friends.
The thrust of the plot follows their separate but related tracks as Rita gets a job as a meter maid and Matt starts hanging out with a troublemaking schoolmate (Noah Fleiss). From pranks and petty crime to smoking a cigar, Matt flirts with more dangers than he knows. Protective, paranoid, rude, but mostly lovable, Rita is her own worst enemy -- that is, until Matt's evil father and all-around basher Warren (P.J. Brown) returns to shakes things up.
Thorne and Read are a marvel together. Matt's morning routine, dictated by his condition, and Rita's almost feverish intensity doing just about anything are indicative of the unique chemistry the actors achieve as characters who are bound by the struggle to survive but often are seen apart going through misadventures in living, working and growing up.
With an agreeable supporting cast that includes William Sage, Michelle Hurd and Eileen Galindo, "Double Parked" is a little too predictable in its overarching story of Rita's campaign to be rid of Warren, but there are many admirable achievements in Kinsella's no-frills approach.
DOUBLE PARKED
Fierce Films
a 44th Street Films production
Director:Stephen Kinsella
Screenwriters:Stephen Kinsella, Paul Solberg
Producers:Stephen Kinsella, Matthew Myers
Executive producer:Mark Montgomery
Director of photography:Jim Denault
Production designer:Anthony Gasparro
Editor:Seth E. Anderson
Costume designer:Monica Willis
Music:Craig Hazen, David Wolfert
Casting:Adrienne Stern
Color/stereo
Cast:
Rita Ronaldi:Callie Thorne
Matt Ronaldi:Rufus Read
Bret:Noah Fleiss
Warren:P.J. Brown
Lola:Michelle Hurd
Karl Severson:William Sage
Dolores Gonzalez:Eileen Galindo
DiDonna:Cassandra Morris
Running time -- 97 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 3/23/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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