Few Options (2011)
When a convicted drug smuggler leaves prison after 22 years for one youthful mistake, he just wants to start over and obey the law. But, unable to find work, he's forced to take a supposedly legitimate job with his old crime partners. And they have big plans for their newest employee. Written by George A. Pappy Jr.
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the leading man is my tpye
good back-story, and good acting
Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.
One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.
Quite cliché essentially, but gets away with it, mostly due to the sympathetic atmosphere of the whole. The protagonist is a helpless ex-con who is confronted with a new (and old, in another way) world, after about 25 years of incarceration. The plot has a slow pacing and takes careful steps towards a few inevitable confrontations... it pretty much worked for me.The acting of Kenny Johnson is decent, although he isn't the most charismatic actor. There are quite a few other (bigger or smaller) roles played by some familiar names, of which Erin Daniels was my favorite. Brad Dourif, Rainn Wilson, Laura San Giacomo (tiny role) and Michael Sheen (tiny role) are worth mentioning also.Nice twist at the end, but I'm not sure how much I liked him 'just' walking away (from his mother and Helen)... but I'll take it. P.s. June 25th, 2014: terrible new title.
At 21, driving a car with drugs and going over inter-state lines cost the young man a 22 year prison sentence.Leaving prison, he meets up with the group that got him involved to begin with. Now, the leader of the groups wants him to kill someone. Our guy is rather simple in nature, but one thing is for sure- he wants to go straight.It is as if his world has totally come apart. Granted refuge by a cousin in a garage of the latter's home, he obtains a menial job from the guy who wants him to shoot someone.It's really a sad piece dealing with how just one mistake ruined someone's life.
"Few Options," a film by emerging writer/director George Pappy, is one of those movie gems that can pop up unexpectedly from time to time - all the more affecting because audiences get to discover it for themselves without being force-fed by the Big Time film distribution system. This passion project from a movie artist currently outside the mainstream was made with no budget but lots of guts and touching human insight. Clearly, Pappy just said "Damn the torpedoes!" and shot his honest, fulfilling movie on credit cards. But cheap here does NOT mean unsophisticated. This is smart Film-Noir going back to its roots to tell an intense story from the point of view of an ex-con who lives in a murky world of moral ambiguity, no easy answers, and no way out. Pretty much the human condition as we find it today. Bravo, Mr. Pappy. We eagerly await your next.
I was drawn up in to the story from the beginning, talk about a character driven plot which took an almost eastern perspective in learning to deal with a constant torrent of life's vicissitudes focused on one outcome - being free of it all. Kenny Johnson gives a solid performance as an ex con trying to escape a sociopath gang boss played very effectively by Brad Dourif. Rainn Wilson demonstrates a range of talent that was unexpected as a spineless cousin making me wish he would show up in more straight dramatic roles diverging from his usual comic characters. The end was completely unexpected yet believable. Impressive well written and directed script with a great cast, good music and compelling performances made me glad I saw this one at the Valley Film Festival.