Maturing Youth - B

​Quick Hit: Just in time for Father’s Day is this film about what it means to grow up.

Happy Father’s Day weekend everyone. As a father myself, and a son, I’ve spoken before about how my father has had an effect on me. I rarely talk about my own sons, but suffice it to say they are more important than any film could ever be to me.
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So, it was nice that the short I got to review today encompassed some of these themes. Today’s film is Maturing Youth, sent to us by Jennifer Meyer at R&F Entertainment. Roger, played by Sean A Kaufman is living the slacker’s dream – all pot and no responsibility. That is, until his ex-girlfriend Sadie (Kim Paris) shows up and drops off Roger Junior (Joshua St. Leger). Roger must decide how to go about the rest of his life – will he leave, or will he stay?

I’ll admit – I watched this one twice. The first time I watched the short I had a hard time getting into the story. It felt a bit like a rehash of the Adam Sandler vehicle Big Daddy, and I couldn’t generate any good will toward the character of Roger. I mean, he was extremely lazy, which is one of my largest pet peeves on God’s green earth. But, somewhere around minute twenty, the film takes a turn, and so does Roger’s behavior. I won’t spoil the turn around, but it invokes shades of Dicken’s A Christmas Carol. So in the end, I enjoyed it enough to watch it again, and found the whole experience more enjoyable the second time around.

Mr. Kaufman does an admirable job at both the slacker role and the straight-laced. At times the delivery of the lines feels a bit stunted, but I actually think that is a knock on the dialogue’s pacing more than his performance. His physical acting is impressive, sinking his shoulders within the Rastafarian colored robe, and straightening out when he’s figuring out how to grow up. I’ll also take this moment to call out the makeup artists for the film, who do a terrific job with Roger in his stoner phase. There aren’t very many other consistent actors throughout the story outside of young Leger, who doesn’t get much to do besides be cute (he accomplishes that goal). All the actors and actresses do admirable jobs. 

The television in Maturing Youth might as well be a character in and of itself. The amount of different scenes that project from it (the sound at least) is constant and varied. On my first take, I found it distracting, but I enjoyed the way the change in programming reflected the different stages in Roger’s life the second time around.

Technically, the movie is solid. There are a few moments where the camera placement is a bit off from where I think it would have been ideal, but there are no glaring issues with it.

Overall, I think Maturing Youth was an appropriate short to watch prior to Father’s Day. I’d recommend you check it out! I'm giving it a "B". 
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For more on this film, check out IMDB.