Small Time (2014)

Sadly Over-hyped

This story has more twists and turns than a second-rate soap opera.

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

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

"This is the story about my father and the summer we spent together many years ago. It was the summer that changed my life."When using the above quote in a movie (or even worse, it's spoken by a voice-over) you actually expect a corny story with a moral character about a generation conflict between adolescents and their parents. However, don't expect too much drama in "Small time" because it's not that dramatic. To my surprise I thought it was a pleasant film to watch anyway. At times it was quite funny and entertaining. Granted, they've indeed incorporated a moral in it. Let's just say it's in fact a void story about the necessity of young people to listen to their parents when it's about significant life lessons. Eventually those parents only wish the best for their children and in the end they surely can help their unruly adolescents with their "taken from life" wise advice.Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) and Barbara (Bridget Moynahan), a divorced couple, are being faced with the decision of their son Freddy (Devon Bostick) who no longer wants to go to school. Instead of his pants getting worn out by sitting at a school desk, he wants to follow in his father's footsteps as a salesman. Al Klein is a second-hand car dealer and runs a business together with his partner Ash Martini (Dean "Under the Dome" Norris). It wasn't exactly a lucrative enterprise in the beginning. And that's something Barbara didn't appreciate very much. The uncertainty and financial instability made her decide to turn her back on Al and start a new life with her former boss Chick (Xander Berkeley). The decision made now by Freddy obviously creates a bit of tension between the two. Freddy probably had a rose-tinted view of it but the start in his father's business isn't as easy going as he thought it would be. The first contacts with customers are rather stiff and finally we see a somewhat pathetic little person who's totally ignored. But his self-confidence grows and he evolves into a slick salesman. The fact there's also a tad rudeness in play and Freddy's interacting disrespectful with others, is a thorn in Al's side. "Small Time" is a typical weekend movie that wouldn't be noticed in the programming of some television channel. It's such a pedantic film that could perfectly serve as filler for an evangelistic broadcasting. That doesn't mean that this is an awfully bad movie. To be honest it was pretty entertaining thanks to the chemistry between Al and Ash. The way they apply their selling techniques to persuade customers to buy the car they were interested in, is a joy to watch (I never thought that a hearing aid would be a good attribute for this). They are two crafty salesmen who have developed a well-oiled collaboration over the years. It wouldn't surprise me if the author of the book "How to sell your mother in law" asked for advice from these two slick salesmen. Only Al thinks certain standards are vital as for example having respect for both the customer and those who work for you. And that's something that Freddy lacks at times.The only thing that bothered me, were the used clichés in this film. But especially Freddy's abrupt transformation from a rookie without experience into a seasoned seller, I found a bit exaggerated and improbable. Don't expect an overwhelming message or a breathtaking ending. The only thing noteworthy to mention also, is the small contribution by Amaury Nolasco as the Spanish-speaking mechanic. You see him quickly taking off his work clothes after which he appears in a flashy costume, so he can help out with a sale with Spanish-speaking customers. Only that fragment made it worthwhile to watch the film.More reviews here : http://opinion-as-a-moviefreak.blogspot.be

Down in the valley you always find the used car dealers; Look around they are there, where the long drives intersect. This movie is not really about the used car industry, or even the valley's (though I've always loved the one's on SOCAL)this movie is all about the Father, and the memory that this one particular summer holds for Freddy his Son. They start out right giving you all of the back story, and introducing you to all of the players so that you can form the right impressions of the characters that Freddy will meet, and this way we can react to the way in which Freddy treats the others with the same feeling that Al has. The lost boys working at the Lot are a lot of fun to watch, and that string is not pulled along too far either. There are many good locations in this movie, and each location feels right, you really get the difference between worlds even if subtle the hard lines of the moneyed, compared to the many curves of the hand to mouth. I Enjoyed the story a lot, and the acting is enough for me to recommend this movie to anyone looking for a funny little drama, or a parent who wants to see that they are not the first to go through it. This is a well made, and solidly delivered movie that anyone will enjoy, families, or just you Grandma's, and Pa's.