A Bag of Hammers

Another year, another lo-fi American indie film attempting to sell its own uniquely quirky tone of social commentary set in a world of gormless Californian stay-at-home loafers. Brian Crano's film is hardly a revolutionary new voice on the scene, and is astonishingly lightweight in both length, and its refusal to discuss any real issues. Yet this blinkered escapism allows for a fun, feelgood story with little conflict but lots of nice warm hug moments. A passable vegan brunch option of a film.

Gotta say I kinda loved this. A good story told simply (more or less), and it actually lets you draw some of your own conclusions. Being asked to believe in the transformation from petty criminal to responsible adult is perhaps a bit much, but stranger things have happened. Worth seeing just for the scene where Jason Ritter tells the kid his mother died. Disclaimer: Jason Ritter is one of the most beautiful young men I've ever seen, so it's hard to be objective.

"Suffers from both an odd, ineffective structure and a low-key tone that jars uncomfortably with the subject matter and makes the film's stakes seem unnecessary low." - Andrew Schenker