Tater Tot & Patton

If you have no one right now or anyone yesterday and the prospects for tomorrow are looking slim, don't quit looking. There's a friend hiding in your shadow just waiting to give you some light. Watch this flick. Then have a beer with a long time buddy. You won't be disappointed with either.

Filmed in my hometown so I'm a little bias. Very good film. It moves slow but that's true SD speed.

This little indie film hits every beat in a melodic story. The film benefits from superb performances from the veteran bit actor Bates Wilder (Joy) and from up and comer Jessica Rotthe (Happy Death Day, La La Land). These two have a compelling chemistry from the very first time they share the screen. They swiftly create a believable dynamic that reveals the craft of this screen writer's ability to handle dialogue. This film does not fall into the overwritten dialogue trap that most indie writer/director films suffer from. Kightlinger executed this script with great restraint. He allowed the performers to bring their touches to the characters. The choice of location is almost as stark as one can imagine. It serves a purpose to give one a sense of complete isolation and yet it feels like a place we all know and find beautiful. This is a film that would have been a darling for indie spirit awards if it had a slightly bigger named actor attached. It is well written, directed, edited and scored. For a small film it has big heart.

The movie plods along pretty slowly. If it wasn't for the superb acting by Bates Wilder, I think I would have turned this off probably about a third of the way through the movie. But I'm happy I didn't because the ending of the film was well done with respectable character development. The story line is not too complicated, no real Hollywood-style surprises or suspense or twists, just two characters slowly learning to accept each other while their lives unfold before them and they slowly let their guards down to let the other in on their life.

It was not quite what I expected from watching the trailer, I was hoping for a bit faster pace, but I didn't think this movie was a total waste of time either. Some good character development, again great acting by Bates Wilder in a subdued presentation, and some humor tossed in here and there to keep me interested. Often times though I thought that the cinematography missed out on filming the great backdrop of S. Dakota.

Coming of age like. The leads are terrific not sure why it's not more recognized. Maybe a bad distributor? Good film you should watch it soon!