Review:
"Small Engine Repair"
Release Date: Sept. 10, 2021
Rating: R Running Time: 103 minutes Putting a close friendship to the test is never an easy thing to do. This presumes such the high level of trust that exists between friends can be placed under so much duress without irrevocably damaging a venerable relationship. With his searing adaptation of his 2011 stage play Small Engine Repair, writer-director John Pollono asks how much is too much to demand of your best friends at a time of dire need. Set in a Manchester, NH, that’s as bleak and as wretched as the inciting incident that three lifelong buddies must contend with, Small Engine Repair finds Pollono’s single father Frank struggling to make ends meet for himself and his college-bound daughter Crystal (Ciara Bravo) while dealing with his personal demons. While he receives great support from his best friends Terrance (Jon Bernthal) and Packie (Shea Whigham), Frank must deal with his estranged and oft-absence wife Karen (Fear Street’s Jordana Spiro), an unpredictable force of nature who prefers partying to parenting. One night, Frank invites Terrance and Packie to his small engine repair shop under false pretenses. Promised a night of steaks, booze, and PPV mixed-martial arts, Terrance and Packie are instead placed by Frank in an untenable situation that does just challenge their loyalty to their oldest friend but could potentially change their lives. Pollono only offers a few early hints as to what it to come in Small Engine Repair but not enough to prepare us for what Frank demands of Terrance and Packie. His primarily focus from the moment he introduces us to Frank, Terrance, and Packie is to show how unbreakable their bond remains after 30 years as friends. They may fall out once in a while over hard truths or avoidable acts of stupidity. But they have each other’s backs in a barfight. And Terrance and Packie often act as surrogate parents to Crystal. Every moment in Small Engine Repair pulsates with the conversations, memories, and experiences they have shared over three decade. An uncommon familiarity exists between Pollono, Bernthal, and Whigham. They infuse their intimate exchanges—which touch upon middle-age malaise, class warfare, toxic masculinity, the sins of the parent, and the impact of social media—with a sharp and unfettered honesty that not only draws us close to them but gives us genuine reason to care about how they resolve their alarming predictable despite their obvious flaws and failings. This is never more evident when the three recall their experience watching with their drunk and longsuffering fathers the infamous 1986 World Series Game between the Boston Red and the New York Mets. It all starts with Pollono, who fills the otherwise well-intentioned Frank with a rage that he can barely contain at times. Frank is more often than not his own worst enemy because of a temper than alienates him from friends and family. Which offsets all the good he does as a loving and protective father. In contrast, Bernthal—who starred opposite Pollono in the Los Angeles stage production—allows Terrance to pass himself off as a happy-go-lucky lothario while always hinting at an inner vulnerability that he dares not reveal. Stuck in the middle is Whigham. Always awkward and often agitated, Whigham positions Packie as a social misfit and an easy target for verbal and physical intimidation, more often than not by his closest friends. But Whigham never imbues Packie with an animosity that is damaging to the soul. Sure, he hates being pick on at times, but he begrudgingly accepts it from the friends who mean him no true harm. As Frank’s wife Karen, Jordana Spiro adopts an abrasiveness that certainly proves disruptive to the group dynamic generated by Pollono, Bernthal, and Whigham, which crucially factors into how Small Engine Repair plays out. With stakes obviously raised after Frank’s shocking announcement, Pollono wrings as much tension out of a situation destined to end badly. The moral dilemma faced by all remains front and center, and Pollono even acknowledgesin no uncertain terms the problematic way he chooses to close Small Engine Repair. At the same time, Pollono retains the film’s sense of humor through to the end, which helps relieve some of the pressure that builds up as a result of Frank’s actions. “A man’s friendships are the best measures of his worth,” Charles Darwin said. Small Engine Repair’s measures Frank’s worth in a way no person should ever have to experience. Robert Sims Aired: Sept. 9. 2021 Web site: https://www.smallenginerepairfilm.com/ |
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