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Hard Scrambled
USA 2006
produced by Erik Bauer, James P. Mercurio, Dean L. Morini (executive), Ken Fuchs (executive), Frank Mercurio (executive), Lenore Mercurio (executive) for Creative Screenwriting, Mercurio Morini Films, New Visions Fellowship
directed by David Scott Hay
starring Kurtwood Smith, Richard Edson, Beth Grant, Eyal Podell, Alanna Ubach, Thomas Kopache, David Gianopoulos, Jodi Hettinga, Erik Bauer, Ashli Elizabeth
screenplay by David Scott Hay, based on his play of the same name, music by Ed Goldfarb
review by Mike Haberfelner
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For 25 years now, Benno (Kurtwood Smith) has been running Alice's
Diner, and he's pretty much the heart and soul of the place, also thanks
to Alice (Beth Grant) of course, the owner who has always had his back -
especially when they hired Scotty (Eyal Podell), a young punk who tried to
rob the place but ended up working there instead. But things have changed
lately, Alice has burned her hands in a fryer and suddenly wants to sell
the place ... of all people to Joe (Richard Edson) the delivery guy, who
might be a friend of Benno's, but he's also an idiot. Thing is, Joe wants
to make changes regarding the place, and while he's of course right in
saying the diner has to be run differently to make a profit, his ideas are
stupid, and sit especially unwell with Benno, who's not a man who likes
change to begin with. Thank God though that Joe is indeed an idiot, so
Benno can trick him out of the already done deal on the diner and make a
(much better) counter offer ... but then Alice out of the blue sells the
place to a competitor who has of all people hired Scotty as the manager of
Alice's Diner - which sits even more unwell with Benno, who always
considered himself to be the boy's only mentor, so suddenly seeing him as
his superior ... What's worse though is that somebody has stolen the money
Benno had gotten together to buy the diner, and it was mob money - and
Benno suspects Scotty ... and things can only go downhill from there ... Basically,
Hard Scrambled is an actors' movie, it's really brought to life by
its performances - which is not to say the writing and direction are bad,
quite the contrary, but it's a film tailor-made for its actors to shine
... which they do. Point is, the script is witty enough to bring out the
best in the cast, the story is engaging, the dialogue is poignant and the
characters are strong, plus the directorial effort is subtle enough to
give the cast the room they need ... all of which leads to a really good
result!
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review © by Mike Haberfelner
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Thanks for watching !!!
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Robots and rats,
demons and potholes, cuddly toys and shopping mall Santas,
love and death and everything in between,
Tales to Chill Your Bones to is all of that.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to -
a collection of short stories and mini-plays ranging from the horrific to the darkly humourous,
from the post-apocalyptic to the weirdly romantic,
tales that will give you a chill and maybe a chuckle,
all thought up by the twisted mind of screenwriter and film reviewer Michael Haberfelner.
Tales to Chill Your Bones to
the new anthology by Michael Haberfelner
Out now from Amazon!!! |
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