Short films are an art form that often goes
unappreciated by most of us, however most of us have benefited greatly from
short films which sometimes appear before the feature film or often are viewed
on television when a broadcaster has a time slot that is too small to run a
regular program. They come in all shapes
and forms and bring us laughter, they educate us and sometimes they are
entertaining animations. This past weekend at the
ReelWorld Film Festival in
Hopefully those in attendance will realize that there
were some technical issues that were not inherent to the film, but due to the
cinema and / or the individual operating the film projector. Nevertheless the
experienced filmgoer will have seen this project for what it is, a well directed
and well produced piece of art, which is highly entertaining and drew much
laughter from the audience as they no doubt relived their own experiences of
attending Parent Teacher Night.
Canadian actress Michèle Duquet was cast in the leading
role as the teacher, Ms. Appleton and she was absolutely brilliant!
Ms. Duquet has a natural comedic flair that is neither gimmicky nor is it
campy, but comes across as authentic. The film’s opening alternates between
seeing a boy’s shoes unwillingly being dragged down a hallway, presumably by his
parents, and towards the room where his teacher (Ms. Duquet) is readying herself
for the monumental meeting with the little “monster” and his mother (Lucy
Flippone) and father (Tony De Santis).
Despite Ms. Appleton’s attempts at diplomacy the Cecco family prove to be quite a handful for the teacher and Duquet does a superb job of portraying the natural progression from putting on the appropriate smile so that mom and dad Cecco can feel good about their little brat Dante played by Noah Lehman, to the point where we are sure that Duquet’s Ms. Appleton is about to explode and tell the Ceccos just what she really thinks.
The four actors in this film all do a wonderful job and Noah Lehman, unlike some child actors, never overacts and he stays within his character. Lucy Flippone is as hilarious on screen, as she is congenial off screen. Tony De Santis does well in his role as both the outraged father and the outrageous father.
This is not a short film by a group of artists and a
director trying to establish a name for themselves, as this is a seasoned group
and their experience is evident. Stephen Roscoe is an award winning director and
Lucy Flippone has appeared feature films and made for television films including
Gotti. She also appeared in the sitcom Married With Children and
on the dramatic series Street Legal. Michèle Duquet has appeared in
a number of major films including;
Photo: Michele Duquet