Review-"Little Town"

     

On Saturday June 17, 2023, I had the privilege of attending a screening of "Little Town", an independent film directed by Dani Menkin and starring Jason Paul Field, Crystal St. John and Grant Stevens. The movie follows Jason ( Field), his son Tommy (Stevens) and their new friend Lauren (St. John) as they make the journey to the titular location of Little Town.

    When the movie begins, Jason is an aspiring stand-up comic who has been living alone with his son Tommy ever since his wife passed away an unspecified time ago. He has never told Tommy the truth about what happened to his mother, only telling them that she was "up in the sky", which Tommy believes means that she is living on top of a mountain in  a place called "Little Town", an ostensibly mythical place that Jason has told his son stories about. 

    One day while Jason is sitting in his car, a young woman (St. John) suddenly gets in and asks him to drive, though she doesn't specify a location. Eventually introducing herself as Lauren, she tells Jason that there is an open mic competition in-you guessed it-Little Town. Reluctantly, Jason agrees to travel to Little  Town for the competition, taking Tommy and Lauren with him. 

    While stopping at a rest area, Jason reveals to Lauren the truth about what happened to wife and Tommy's mom and his fear of what will happen if they get to the top of the mountain and Tommy realizes his mom isn't there. Apparently Tommy overhears their conversation because he precedes to hide himself in the trunk of Lauren's car, putting himself in a potentially lethal situation. Tommy's father explains to him that this won't bring him to the top of the mountain and that sometimes we don't have all the answers. (On a side note, this scene also highlights the importance of how parents should always be honest with their kids about the subject of death. As someone who lost a great-grandmother when I was about two and my paternal grandfather when I was almost five, I was familiar with the subject of death fairly early in life and while I was not really familiar with subjects like the afterlife at the time, I knew enough about it to know that the people who died would not be coming back.)

    After several setbacks (Lauren's car runs out of gas, forcing our trio to walk 12 miles in five hours the rest of the way), they eventually make it to Little Town, just in time for Jason to enter the Open Mic competition. I won't spoil how it turns out, but I think you'll be happy with the result.

    Overall, "Little Town" is a delightful, family-friendly film. If you love watching Hallmark Channel movies, you'll probably love this as well.