By: debbie lynn elias
Scoring my vote as the #1 Narrative Competition Feature in the 2010 Los Angeles Film Festival and walking away with an award for Best Ensemble Cast, say hello to HELLO LONESOME – a charming, sweet, wistful and winsome film that will bring a smile to your heart as it fills you with tender joy and laughter. Written and directed by Adam Reid, HELLO LONESOME touches the heart with a tenderness and softness that is warm and welcoming, and guaranteed to fill the lonesome void in each of us.
It has long been said that the greatest gift one will ever know is just to love and be loved in return. It’s what we all want to some degree or another. To ease the loneliness of an empty night, to share a memory, to make a new memory, to feel like you matter, to be a part of something or someone greater than yourself. And no matter what age you are or what stage you are at in life, these are emotional commonalities and threads that bind us.
Gordon is a twenty-something wannabe yuppie who seeks out Ms. Right online. Debby is a very successful twenty-something yuppie who has all the exterior trappings of happiness and success but hidden away in her pristine ivory tower, has an emptiness she too yearns to fill and looks to the internet for her own 21st century comfort. Eleanor is someone many may deem past her prime. Widowed, the best part of her life is past and she is left with only her memories, but without someone to share them with, she fears they will fade away as will she. Her next door neighbor Gary is shy and retiring, hiding away after a divorce gone bad, but proving time and again that he has a good heart, jumping into help Eleanor whenever the need arises. And then there’s Bill. A highly successful voice over actor who makes good money, has a nice lifestyle, but really screwed up in the husband and father department. Ignored by his daughter and living alone out in the country, Bill spends his time sequestered away in his recording booth with his only live human contact coming from his opera loving delivery man, Omar.
With artful storytelling, Reid brings friendship, love and hope to each of our players. Initially drawing on his own personal experience and inspired by that of his sister Lisa who, after meeting someone online discovered she had breast cancer, with the story of Debby and Gordon and the emotionally devastating events that turn their world upside down at the start of their relationship, Reid goes for the heart, gently nudging, while eliciting the humanity and frailty of the human condition.
First rate acting only enhances the well crafted story and technical excellence of Reid’s work. A familiar face to many, James Urbaniak is a standout as Gary while Reid’s own good luck charm, Lynn Cohen, whom many of you will know from Spielberg’s “Munich” and her winning turn as Golda Meir, draws you in, capturing that grandmotherly affection we all have. But the real joy here is watching Harry Chase as Bill. A recognized voice actor (think Captain Morgan’s Rum for starters), HELLO LONESOME marks Chase’s on-screen acting debut and he couldn’t be more amazing. He steals every scene and brings more than a believability to the part. Adding to his excellence is when he shares screen time with real life opera singer and actor, Kamel Boutrous, as Omar. Together the two have an undeniable buddy film camaraderie that is a joy to watch. Increasing Chase’s appeal is his on screen comfort and ease, undoubtedly due to the fact that Bills’ home is actually Chase’s.
The story structure belies that of what many deem a “festival film”. HELLO LONESOME is well thought out, layered with emotional complexity, interest and well defined characters. The character detail just reels you in giving rise to multi-generational appeal. Also acting as cinematographer, Reid’s lensing is beautiful while Scott Rankin’s editing is perfection given the integration of individual non-intersecting yet emotionally complimentary storylines and segmental dialogue patterns.
James Urbaniak
Lynn Cohen
Harry Chase
Kamel Boutrous
Sabrina Lloyd
Nate Smith
Traci Hovel
Written and Directed by Adam Reid
