*MINOR SPOILERS*
I had never heard of this very low-budget film nor of it's cast or crew before I saw it at a screening in L.A. At the time of the screening, the film did not have distribution. The producers emphasized how the entire cast and crew of the movie were under 30 and that the mean age of a cast/crew member was 20. I didn't have very high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.
"Waiting for Mo" is a low-key teen comedy in the vein of "The Breakfast Club" or "Dazed and Confused." Like "Dazed... " "Mo" concerns the (mis-) adventures of a group of close-knit friends entirely on the night following their high school graduation, while exploring some of their hopes and desires and romances, etc. The very loose plot is structured around the efforts of the senior class to locate the titular character, Mo, who has gone AWOL with all the booze and pot, after the post-graduation shindig is unexpectedly canceled. The movie then follows the lead character, Chad, and his circle of friends (as well as other members of their class), as they hang out at late-night diners, parking lots, strip malls, lookouts, and beaches, that perfectly capture the San Fernando Valley setting, all the while waiting for Mo. You don't have to have read Beckett to guess about the likelihood of his appearance.
The low-key, realistic approach to the situations and humor may turn off the "Porky's" set, but the more discriminating viewer may take pleasure in it's honesty. You laugh because you have had the same conversations, or you can imagine the same things happening to you when you were in high school.
One of the chief pleasures of this movie are some of the wonderful, bit character parts and actors. Dan Stump makes an hilarious impression as a strange and frightening character named Art who is trying to learn how to increase his power in his relationship. Stump plays the character as a young, intensely coked-up Christopher Walken. Another striking performance is that of a young actor named Vinay Murthy, who plays Casey. Casey is the archetypal slacker/stoner, but Murthy plays him with a quirky edge that, coupled with his Middle Eastern looks and dyed purple goatee, is insanely funny. Who is that guy?
To wrap up, I am not sure if this film has yet secured distribution (I saw it years ago), but if you ever get a chance, do yourself a favor and watch it. You may be pleasantly surprised like me. It's a refreshing change of pace from all that brainless teen crap that has been flooding the market in recent years.
I had never heard of this very low-budget film nor of it's cast or crew before I saw it at a screening in L.A. At the time of the screening, the film did not have distribution. The producers emphasized how the entire cast and crew of the movie were under 30 and that the mean age of a cast/crew member was 20. I didn't have very high expectations, but I was pleasantly surprised.
"Waiting for Mo" is a low-key teen comedy in the vein of "The Breakfast Club" or "Dazed and Confused." Like "Dazed... " "Mo" concerns the (mis-) adventures of a group of close-knit friends entirely on the night following their high school graduation, while exploring some of their hopes and desires and romances, etc. The very loose plot is structured around the efforts of the senior class to locate the titular character, Mo, who has gone AWOL with all the booze and pot, after the post-graduation shindig is unexpectedly canceled. The movie then follows the lead character, Chad, and his circle of friends (as well as other members of their class), as they hang out at late-night diners, parking lots, strip malls, lookouts, and beaches, that perfectly capture the San Fernando Valley setting, all the while waiting for Mo. You don't have to have read Beckett to guess about the likelihood of his appearance.
The low-key, realistic approach to the situations and humor may turn off the "Porky's" set, but the more discriminating viewer may take pleasure in it's honesty. You laugh because you have had the same conversations, or you can imagine the same things happening to you when you were in high school.
One of the chief pleasures of this movie are some of the wonderful, bit character parts and actors. Dan Stump makes an hilarious impression as a strange and frightening character named Art who is trying to learn how to increase his power in his relationship. Stump plays the character as a young, intensely coked-up Christopher Walken. Another striking performance is that of a young actor named Vinay Murthy, who plays Casey. Casey is the archetypal slacker/stoner, but Murthy plays him with a quirky edge that, coupled with his Middle Eastern looks and dyed purple goatee, is insanely funny. Who is that guy?
To wrap up, I am not sure if this film has yet secured distribution (I saw it years ago), but if you ever get a chance, do yourself a favor and watch it. You may be pleasantly surprised like me. It's a refreshing change of pace from all that brainless teen crap that has been flooding the market in recent years.