Morgan Beck
Every summer, Jon (Jon Schmidt) gathers ten friends together in his adopted city of Los Angeles to play the Turkey Bowl – bringing a piece of small-town tradition to the urban sprawl – all for the beloved prize for the winning team… a turkey. Friendships flare and fade, jealousy is met with both laughter and pain, old and unrequited love threatens to remain old and unrequited, and all of these undercurrents are revealed in the unique, improvised rhythm of backyard football.
This is a student film made while Adam Bertocci was enrolled at Northwestern University, but compared to many other student films I have seen, it is head and shoulders better. It has excellent writing, direction and a professional quality about it you might not normally expect--plus the film is cute as can be with a really clever story. However, given that I have seen another of Adam Bertocci's excellent short films, LOVE: THE MOVIE, I actually was expecting something special--as LOVE was a heck of a fresh and entertaining film as well. Both films, it turns out, have already received awards and I certainly am not surprised. In fact, I can't wait until Bertocci "turns pro" so to speak--in other words, moves to Hollywood and makes a bazillion bucks making more nice little films--but with bigger budgets. Keep an eye out for this guy.
