The GoodTimesKid (2005)

Director:

Azazel Jacobs

Writers:

Azazel Jacobs
Gerardo Naranjo

Genre:

Action | Comedy

Tagline:

A story about stolen love and stolen identities, shot on stolen film.

Cast

Azazel Jacobs	...	Rodolfo Cano
Gerardo Naranjo	...	Rodolfo Cano II
Sara Diaz	...	Diaz
Lucy Dodd	...	Sidekick
Pat Reynolds	...	Neighbor
Gill Dennis	...	Sergeant
Melissa Paull	...	Ex-Girlfriend
Ivor Pyres	...	Birthday Party Guest
Caro Datum	...	Birthday Party Guest
Toni Oswald	...	Birthday Party Guest
Brian O'Keffe	...	Birthday Party Guest
Pat DeWitt	...	Bartender
Rene Navarrette	...	Tough Guy
Eddie Navarette	...	Tough Guy
Dick Rude	...	Tough Guy
Anton Schneider	...	Tough Guy
Cali DeWitt	...	Tough Guy
Robert Rudder	...	Soldier
Anton Thaqi	...	Enlistee
Darren Hinton	...	Enlistee
Marcos Menendez	...	Soap Opera Actor
Dani Owen	...	Soap Opera Actress (as Danielle Owens)
Alessandro Mastrobuono	...	Soap Opera Actor
Jessica Sattelberger	...	Bus Rider (as Jessica Lynn Sattel)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Caroline Foellmer	...	Party

Directed by
Azazel Jacobs

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Azazel Jacobs
Gerardo Naranjo

Produced by
Richard Abramowitz	....	executive producer
Oscar Alvarez	....	associate producer
Sara Diaz	....	producer
Ernesto Garabito	....	producer
Andrew Mencher	....	executive producer
Georgina Riedel	....	producer

Original Music by
Mandy Hoffman

Cinematography by
Eric Curtis
Azazel Jacobs
Gerardo Naranjo

Film Editing by
Azazel Jacobs

Sound Department
Lisa K. Fowle	....	sound designer

Camera and Electrical Department
Tobias Datum	....	additional cinematographer

Music Department
Joe Rudge	....	music supervisor

Production Companies

• Crooked Teeth Productions

Distributors

• Benten Films (2009) (USA) (DVD)
• Watchmaker Films (2009-2012) (USA) (DVD)
• Crooked Teeth Productions (2007) (USA) (theatrical)

Other Companies

• Dragonfly Sound  sound post-production

Also Known As:

Runtime:

USA:77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (original 35 mm prints)

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Crooked Teeth Productions

Finally, a Movie of Comic Understatement

In the spirit of the indie heyday, when names like Alex Cox, Stephen Frears, Wim Wenders and Jim Jarmusch were the currency of cinema's promise, comes Azazel Jacobs, hopefully the new bearer of the long-smoldering punk cinema torch. The GoodTimesKid is a wonderfully observant and comical character study made with nothing but pocket change and a love of movies. In fact, this is obviously not just a labor of love but of friendship: Jacobs stars in the film with his co-writer and former classmate, Gerardo Naranjo, as well as his producer and real-life girlfriend Sara Diaz.

I'll refrain from saying too much about the movie's plot, not because there really is much of a plot but what small revelations the script does have in store would be that much nicer to discover in the theater. (Let's hope it makes to theaters!) Suffice to say that Naranjo's character receives a summons indicating that he had enlisted in the Army (truth is, he hadn't) and that the time to report for duty has come. He goes down to the enlistment office to explain the mistake and he winds up following another recruit home. That would be Jacob's character, an angry and disheveled journalist, who seems to be joining the Army only because he's given up on every other aspect of his life, especially his girlfriend, played by Diaz.

Naranjo, in a near-silent performance that, I swear to God, is downright Chaplin-esquire, makes friends with Diaz, the irony being that he knows that her boyfriend is busing off to join the military in the morning, and she doesn't. Jacobs isn't the strongest actor in the world but he certainly looks the part and exonerates himself well. Diaz is nothing but a delight, a young Shelly Duvall in Converse hi-tops, and she owns outright the movie's funniest scene, in which she dances a jig in an effort to pull Naranjo out of his chronic stupor.

There are all kinds of things that real people in real life might say to each other, and ways that they would behave, which the characters in The GoodTimesKid never do, but this is one of those movies which doesn't need literalism to feel authentic. Much like in Godard's romantic comedies (Masculin, Féminin comes to mind) the feelings are real and the inspired silliness only elevates it further.