Validation (2007)

User Rating:

8.5/10   

Director:

Kurt Kuenne

Writer:

Kurt Kuenne (writer)

Genre:

Short | Comedy | Romance

Tagline:

A fable about the magic of free parking.

Plot:

A fable about a parking attendant who gives his customers REAL validation -- dispensing both free parking and free compliments.

Plot Keywords:

Compliment | Parking Attendant | Daughter | Parking Garage | Budding Romance

Awards:

1 win

Cast

Jennifer Adkisson	...	DMV Line Waiter
Matthew Andrade	...	French Parking Man
Jonathan Atkinson	...	Himself
Christy Barker	...	Second Female Tourist
Richard Beanan	...	Third Suit
Glenda Morgan Brown	...	Wheelchair Woman
Ray Carbajal	...	Homeless Man
Lisa Cole	...	Reporter
Pam Cook	...	Depressed Woman
Cliff Corder	...	DMV Line Waiter
Gary Davis	...	Homeless Man
Vicki Davis	...	Victoria Donner
Ralph Diner	...	Workout Man
Tashinique Elzie	...	Third Female Tourist
Michael Hatch	...	Second Suit
James Haven	...	James Coleman
Jennifer Haworth	...	Wendy Stewart
Andy Hungerford	...	First Male Tourist
Shelby Lee Jenkins	...	Dental Assistant
Victoria Jones Ramorino	...	DMV Worker
Danielle Kaplowitz	...	Patient
Lira Kellerman	...	Line Waiter
Dylan Kenin	...	DMV Photo Subject
Eric Kinsinger	...	Line Waiter
Courtney Kleinman	...	Line Waiter
Sylvie Kovacs	...	French Photographer
Richard Kuenne	...	Line Waiter
Dave Kuhr	...	Depressed Man
Andrea Lwin	...	First Female Tourist
David Marc	...	Angry DMV Man
Jef McClure	...	Bodyguard
Tawny Mertes	...	DMV Line Waiter
Parker Mills	...	DMV Worker
Kyle Nudo	...	Third Male Tourist
Ron Oden	...	Mall Cop
Jeanine Pacheco	...	Line Waiter
Raymond Parker	...	Bodyguard
Brennan W. Penney	...	Line Waiter
Pamela Porter	...	Passport Woman
Matt Roberts	...	Second Male Tourist
David Rothblum	...	Patient
Gregory B. Sanders	...	Photographer
Mary Scanlon	...	Line Waiter
Joe Bob Smith	...	Line Waiter
Logan Sparks	...	Photo Subject
T.J. Thyne	...	Hugh Newman
Manolo Travieso	...	Head Suit
Matt Voelker	...	DMV Line Waiter
Jackie Walters	...	Dental Assistant
Candace Weber	...	DMV Line Waiter
Carol White	...	Dental Assistant
Cameron Young	...	Boss Man
Karen Zumsteg	...	Patient

Runtime:

USA:16 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Company:

Theatre Junkies

Quotes:

James Coleman: You paid for parking - for me?

Movie Connections:

Features Rent-a-Person (2004)

Everybody can learn a thing or two from this guy.

I had the pleasure of seeing this gem at the Phoenix Film Festival and I have to say that there are probably less then 1% of all short films made have the ability to make the audience well up with tears of happiness. That is precisely what this film did to me. Not only that. Whenever I tell someone about it I get the sense of welling up again just from re-telling it to them.

T.J. Thyne is perfectly cast as Hugh Newman, the uber-naive parking booth guy who works at the end of a darkly lit hallway and validates customers parking tickets while validating their lives at the same time. Just like any protagonist in a movie, he hits his roadblock and loses his mojo for a while but soon finds himself again, after he finds life taking him in another direction and gets back on the trail of making people's lives better. He finds out in the end that the good deeds had been doing for people in the past, that he thought were not changing anything or anybody, actually changed the lives of even the most hardened hearts and in turn find him the complete happiness that he had been searching for the whole time.

Kurt Kuenne did an AMAZING job with this film, period. From the finger-snappy acapella soundtrack to the directing, editing and cinematography; all of it is perfectly fit into this beautiful story. I only wish I could buy this movie on DVD. I've told so many people about it and wish I could show them! Hopefully soon!