Young Bubbs needs to up sticks and leave his small coastal town if he is ever to live his own life. He still lives with his embittered mother Mary who is obsessed with the fact that every man in her life always runs out on her and she is on Bubbs case constantly, and then there is his girlfriend who is dumping him to land a big catch. But just when he could be on the verge of finally making his exit, he realizes that he has been harboring some pretty deep feelings for Cory who’s his best friend’s sister and who it turns out could do with a upstanding young man as a new beau as she has just caught her heel of a boyfriend cheating on her again. Cory is keen on Bubbs but is reluctant to commit to a relationship if he is still itching to leave town.
And then there his grandfather Frank who set sail to seek some adventure when Bubbs was still a young kid and keeps popping up in Port every now and then as he and his grandson have grown very close, much to the disdain of Mary.
This rather touching wee story is less a coming of age story and more one about becoming a man. Bubbs struggles to discover that the only way to make others in his life happy, is to find an inner peace for himself first.
There are no startling plot lines or any major surprises in this very simple story’s development, and the key to the success of this rather delightful and engaging movie is the freshness of the writing and the very credible and likeable characters that make it all work. Without a single ‘star’ or even a well-known actor in the talented cast that first time director/editor Joshua Dragge has assembled, they bring a real energy and commitment to making both their characters and their relationships together very believable. (the one weakness is in Mary whose anger seems somehow so unreal).
My enthusiasm for this enchanting new movie that really captivated me was somewhat enhanced by the fact that it was made by home-grown Florida talent, and even the setting of the story was the Florida Coast, and that this screening at the Miami International Film Festival was in fact its World Premiere . Written by a very young Nick Loritsch (who also starred at Bubbs, and produced it too) who told us at the Q & A they have filmed in in 2009 and had been fine tuning it (and financing ) since then. It was well worth the wait.
Full credit to MIFF for programming it, but not simply because they were local boys who did good, but for the fact they produced an exceptionally entertaining movie with very high production values that really deserves to be seen by a wider audience.
