Small Time (2014) User Reviews

Closing...I mean Closure

[pcrawake · 7/10 · 18 April 2014]

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.

The story of a Father seen through no longer filtered eyes of the Son.

[face-819-933726 · 7/10 · 20 April 2014]

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.

Indie Kept Me Interested

[larrys3 · 6/10 · 5 June 2014]

It's hard to admit I was somewhat charmed by this indie, when one of the main themes takes place on a used car lot where fast talking salesmen will use every trick-in-the-book to sell you a car. Of course, there's much more to the movie than that, with family dramas and a coming-of-age tale being also a big part of the scenario. To me, it was mostly presented in a laid-back humorous way which appealed to me.

Chris Meloni and Dean Norris are excellent in their starring roles as Al and Ash respectively. They've been partners in Diamond Motors, a used car lot in Covina, California, for the past 16 years.

When Al's son Freddy, portrayed by Devon Bostick, is having his high school graduation ceremony, both Al and Ash attend. There they meet up with Freddy's mother Barb, ably played by the talented and beautiful Bridget Moynahan, who's been divorced from Al for 14 years, and re-married now to the rather obnoxious but very wealthy Chick (Xander Berkeley).

Shortly after his graduation, Freddy tells Al he doesn't want to go to college (Cal Poly), but instead wants to work at Al's car business to gain life experience and even wants to live with his father. This will set off a series of events and consequences which will result in some valuable life's lessons being learned by all.

All in all, I felt this indie sometimes lost its' way, such as very crass scenes of Al and Ash's buddies getting together for lunches, which although realistic seemed out of context to the rest of the film. Aside from that though, the movie, written and directed by Joel Surnow had enough humor and drama to keep me engaged throughout.

The notion is more amusing than at times watching it

[jordondave-28085 · 6/10 · 16 April 2023]

(2014) Small Time COMEDY DRAMA

Written and directed by Joel Surnow that has owner of an used car salesman, Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) attempting to reunite with his son, Freddie Klein (Devon Bostick) by allowing him to work alongside with him, also as a sleazy used car salesman along side with his partner, Ash Martini (Dean Norris), Al's mechanic, Barlow (Amaury Nolasco) and finally, Al's secretary, Gail (Ashley Jensen). As opposed to what Al's ex Barbara (Bridget Moynahan) actually wanted her son to do which was to go to college and graduate from high school. There's something humorous about the entire set up of a sleazy car dealer reuniting with his somewhat of an estranged son.

Nothing that special, but in the end it was still entertaining enough ....

[peterp-450-298716 · 5/10 · 22 April 2015]

"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

more lemon than not

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 9 August 2017]

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 want to see more movies like this one.

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 19 April 2014]

I love films that are about people as opposed to films where there is a lot of action. So, while the public often flocks to blockbusters with huge budgets and explosions, I am often more happy seeing a much quieter style of film—one where the characters are the center of the film. This doesn't make me right or wrong—it's just the sorts of films I usually prefer. For example, after seeing the most recent Oscar-nominees for Best Picture, one of my very favorites was "Nebraska" and I much preferred it to most of the action-packed and star-studded films running against it. Because of my tastes in films, Small Time is pretty much exactly the sort of movie for me—and it may just be that way for you if you're looking for an interesting story about seemingly normal folks.

Christopher Meloni (of "Law & Order SVU" and "True Blood" fame) stars as Al Klein—a divorced used car salesman whose ethics are extremely limited to say the least! He and his partner, Ash (Dean Norris), will say almost anything to close a sale and they are good at what they do. A big surprise comes to Al, however, when his son, Freddy (Devon Bostick), graduates. Instead of going off to college at Cal Poly (one of the top schools in the country), Freddy announces that he wants to move in with dad and go to work with him selling cars. At first this seems wonderful —father and son together and doing what Al loves most. But, as time passes, the awkward son starts to become more and more like his dad—and perhaps even better when it comes to selling cars. This change in Freddy causes an emotional crisis for Al. Does he really want the kid to be a chip off the old block?!

This is a wonderful character-driven story. Through the course of the film, Meloni's character grows—but not in a way that is unrealistic or contrived. And, most importantly, it is not a HUGE change—but a reasonable change. Meloni and the rest of the cast are great—and Meloni proves he's not just good on television but as a movie actor as well. I loved Bostick's performance almost as much as Meloni's and there were also a lot of nice supporting characters that give the film wonderful depth and humor (the opening scene with the young car thief is amazingly clever and made me smile). While this isn't a comedy exactly, some parts are funny and some of it is quite poignant. This film should be a huge boost to the career of Joel Surnow. While Surnow has written a quite a few scripts before this (mostly for TV—such as "24" and the amazingly overlooked "Nowhere Man") and has a few producer credits, here he also gets a chance to direct as well as write the story—and he did a great job with both.

This film would make an excellent date night. Women seem to really like Meloni and the film has a lot for the guys as well. Intelligent and well worth your time.

VIEWS ON FILM review of Small Time

[burlesonjesse5 · 4/10 · 2 January 2015]

In the opening scene of 2014's Small Time, Christopher Meloni's character (Al Klein) and the Dean Norris character (Ash Martini), blackmail a smart aleck teenager into buying a rundown BMW. What an interesting sales technique. And what a hokey, dumb, and conventional farce this flick turned out to be. Note to Meloni: You were so brilliant on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Why would you retire from that show to somehow find your way into a something like this? And note to Bridget Moynahan: Are you that desperate in Hollywood that you would subject yourself to playing a clichéd, lonely divorcée via the felonious downgrade that is Small Time? These are some of the questions I pondered while viewing what I like to think of as a sleazy, used car salesmen character study putting first time director Joel Sumow completely in over his head. Granted, there have been a lot of bad movies to come out this year. Small Time just managed to crack my top five.

Released in the U.S. in April and having its only DVD premiere in the country of Sweden (how random is that), this misguided, coming of age dreck veers toward TV sitcom territory. What's on screen gives used car salesmen a bad name as it chronicles the father/son relationship between Al Klein (Meloni) and 18 year-old high school graduate, Freddy Klein (Devon Bostick, who appears as a deadpan Jimmy Fallon look-alike here). Al, along with his douchbag assistant (Norris), sell cars by way of being a deceptive jack-ass. His boy, fresh out of high school, decides to forgo his mother's aspirations of college and work in his father's low key operation (the film also sites his lack for wanting to be in a fraternity as a reason for this decision). Freddy reluctantly resents his mother's current husband (Xander Berkeley as Chick) and wants to succeed in the real world as opposed to getting a false education (as he puts it). He then moves in with his father putting a strain on the ex- husband/ex-wife relationship (all the while creating a cocky air in his personality forcing said dad to fire him). Bostick's character has ways of making more money for his father, is high on selling cars, but has an attitude with the customers and believes that quote unquote, "people are shite". That puts Al in a precarious position. He eventually buys into the idea of Freddy instead living the life of a college student by hoping he'll eventually attend any California school (within the Southern region). To say that this film is manipulated by its paint-by- numbers script is an understatement. I wanted to slap the actors across the face and tell them to wait for a better project later on in the year.

Fubar plot and rote characters aside, the thing that I wondered most about Small Time is this: When the heck does this movie takes place? Throughout its running time, the audience deals with a 1970's musical soundtrack along with every character dressing like they're living in the 90's (that goes for the hairstyles as well). And the automobiles on the used car lot channel a mix of different decades (I think I saw a 1989 Cavalier). But hey, at least the phone concept is consistent (everyone talks on a pay phone and/or landline, not a cell phone). In truth, this is just another stupid independent film (there are so many of them) that tries to be cool, tries to be cute, but just completely flaps in the wind. It's not the actors/actresses that's the problem, just the concept. Hypocrisy is a dainty word (what with the Meloni character telling his son it's okay to force a customer into buying a crap car only to state that his methods are not appropriate). Too bad this thing seems to hammer that notion to levels of utmost absurdity.

All in all, Small Time is undoubtedly a movie with a "small" brain. Here's hoping the people in Sweden felt the exact same way when it ventured into their neck of the woods.

Of note: With Small Time, look for one of the most undeveloped roles in screen history. Garcelle Beauvais plays Meloni's character's girlfriend and it's thankless beyond comprehension. I felt sorry for her in threefold fashion. Oh, and just for the record, the director of this formulaic romp was the producer of the hit series, 24. I'm surprised that he didn't feel compelled to forcefully remove his name from this project.

Simple and straightforward, an overall enjoyable film.

[tomhuang-22354 · 9/10 · 17 March 2016]

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

SOMETIMES THINGS BREAK DOWN

[nogodnomasters · 8/10 · 13 October 2018]

Ash (Dean Norris) and Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) own a successful used car dealership that took a long time to get there. During that time Al got divorced from his wife Barbara (Bridget Moynahan) who sought security for their son Fred (Devon Bostick). Fred is now 18 years old and has a chance to go to Cal-Poly but would rather learn the used car trade from the father figure he missed growing up. This causes issues that only Al can work out.

This is a heart warming comedy for a mature family. The humor is not over powering, but it does work. The characters are flawed, but Al accepts this fact in other people more easily than they accept it in him. It has a happy ending and is something that approaches a Lifetime film minus the Puffs.

The film is "R" rated but contained no F-bombs, sex, or nudity. The sex references were sparse, but apparently coarse enough for the rating. I have seen PG-13 films far more crude.

Neat little film, but fizzles out.

[g-hbe · 8/10 · 27 February 2021]

We loved this film for its thoughtfulness and quiet charm, dealing as it did with matters such as friendship, love and loyalty. All the performances are great - even the irritating Chick is a good study in greed and arrogance. However, in the last 20/30 minutes the makers ran low on money or inspiration and the focus was lost. Son Freddie more or less just disappeared and was only heard of via a letter at the last minute, and the final few minutes seemed rushed and perfunctory. Still a great film though. Recommended if you like films without ten car chases every minute and explosions all over the place.