Small Time (2014)

A young guy decides to skip college in favor of joining his father on the lot of his used-car business.

Director:

Joel Surnow

Writer:

Joel Surnow

Stars:

Christopher Meloni, Devon Bostick, Dean Norris

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Christopher Meloni	...	Al Klein
Devon Bostick	...	Freddy Klein
Dean Norris	...	Ash Martini
Bridget Moynahan	...	Barbara
Xander Berkeley	...	Chick
Ashley Jensen	...	Gail
Garcelle Beauvais	...	Linda
Amaury Nolasco	...	Barlow
Ken Davitian	...	Wexler
Gregory Itzin	...	Lennie
Kevin Nealon	...	Irv
Andrew James Allen	...	Jason
Misty Monroe	...	Graduation Woman
Barbara Gruen	...	Kaye
Fidel Gomez	...	Hispanic Man

Storyline

A young guy decides to skip college in favor of joining his father on the lot of his used-car business.

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Plot Keywords:

father | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for some sexual references

Did You Know?

Trivia

The majority of this movie was filmed at a closed car dealership in downtown Covina.

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Goofs

A boom mic can be seen in the reflection in the glass door when Barb goes to visit Al at his house.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Freddy Klein: This is the story about my father and the summer we spent together many years ago. It was the summer that changed my life.

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Soundtracks

Sway
Written by Luis Demetrio and Pablo Beltrán Ruiz, English lyrics by Norman Gimbel
Performed by Dean Martin

User Reviews

I want to see more movies like this one.

I love films that are about people as opposed to films where there is a lot of action. So, while the public often flocks to blockbusters with huge budgets and explosions, I am often more happy seeing a much quieter style of film—one where the characters are the center of the film. This doesn't make me right or wrong—it's just the sorts of films I usually prefer. For example, after seeing the most recent Oscar-nominees for Best Picture, one of my very favorites was "Nebraska" and I much preferred it to most of the action-packed and star-studded films running against it. Because of my tastes in films, Small Time is pretty much exactly the sort of movie for me—and it may just be that way for you if you're looking for an interesting story about seemingly normal folks.

Christopher Meloni (of "Law & Order SVU" and "True Blood" fame) stars as Al Klein—a divorced used car salesman whose ethics are extremely limited to say the least! He and his partner, Ash (Dean Norris), will say almost anything to close a sale and they are good at what they do. A big surprise comes to Al, however, when his son, Freddy (Devon Bostick), graduates. Instead of going off to college at Cal Poly (one of the top schools in the country), Freddy announces that he wants to move in with dad and go to work with him selling cars. At first this seems wonderful —father and son together and doing what Al loves most. But, as time passes, the awkward son starts to become more and more like his dad—and perhaps even better when it comes to selling cars. This change in Freddy causes an emotional crisis for Al. Does he really want the kid to be a chip off the old block?!

This is a wonderful character-driven story. Through the course of the film, Meloni's character grows—but not in a way that is unrealistic or contrived. And, most importantly, it is not a HUGE change—but a reasonable change. Meloni and the rest of the cast are great—and Meloni proves he's not just good on television but as a movie actor as well. I loved Bostick's performance almost as much as Meloni's and there were also a lot of nice supporting characters that give the film wonderful depth and humor (the opening scene with the young car thief is amazingly clever and made me smile). While this isn't a comedy exactly, some parts are funny and some of it is quite poignant. This film should be a huge boost to the career of Joel Surnow. While Surnow has written a quite a few scripts before this (mostly for TV—such as "24" and the amazingly overlooked "Nowhere Man") and has a few producer credits, here he also gets a chance to direct as well as write the story—and he did a great job with both.

This film would make an excellent date night. Women seem to really like Meloni and the film has a lot for the guys as well. Intelligent and well worth your time.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 April 2014 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ничтожный

Filming Locations:

Lisette St, Granada Hills, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Asylum Entertainment

Technical Specs

Runtime:

104 min