A slyly deceptive film about a midwestern widow who journeys to New York to visit her daughter who lives in the East Village across from the Satan's Disciples' (a fictional biker gang) headquarters. The short is surprisingly rich, both poignant and funny at the same time. Helen Stenborg delivers a beautifully nuanced performance, one that could have easily slipped into the mawkish, but never does. The writing, direction, and cinematography are highly accomplished for a so-called student film. It is a rare balancing act that weaves fantasy and reality and dream into multi-layered whole. Eminently deserving of the 2000 Oscar.
8 Reviews
Hysterical comedy about an old, farm woman in New York
movieman-18727 February 2000
This is the first film by director Barbara Schrock, and it is a great offering. This short is nominated for an Oscar this year in the best live action film short category.
The plot is pretty simple, but in the end, it is very unique. Basically, a widow from Sioux Falls, SD goes to visit her daughter in New York's East Village. When she first arrives, she is very scared, and this feeling is not helped by the fact that her daughter lives across the street from the headquarters of a large motorcycle gang, The Satan's Disciples! She is overcome with questions like, "Is it safe?" and "What do they do over there?"
In the end, it gives plenty of laughs and just enough sympathy and drama to keep everybody amused. If you get a chance to see this movie, don't pass it up.--9/10
The plot is pretty simple, but in the end, it is very unique. Basically, a widow from Sioux Falls, SD goes to visit her daughter in New York's East Village. When she first arrives, she is very scared, and this feeling is not helped by the fact that her daughter lives across the street from the headquarters of a large motorcycle gang, The Satan's Disciples! She is overcome with questions like, "Is it safe?" and "What do they do over there?"
In the end, it gives plenty of laughs and just enough sympathy and drama to keep everybody amused. If you get a chance to see this movie, don't pass it up.--9/10
Very, very enjoyable
planktonrules22 February 2009
This was a wonderful little film and I can certainly understand why it received the Best Live Action Short Oscar. The film was clever and entertaining throughout.
The film begins with a lady leaving her farm in South Dakota to go to New York City to visit her daughter. It's obvious that this lady is like a fish out of water and she seems very intimidated by such a big and scary city. This feeling is made worse by a nasty cab driver, beggars on the street AND the fact that a biker gang ("Satan's Disciples") has a clubhouse right across from her daughter's flat.
When she tries to go out on her own site seeing, the lady is too scared by her surroundings to go out the first day and just stays home alone while the daughter works.
The second day works out much better, and you see a montage (poorly done, by the way) of her seeing all the sites in the city. However, when she returns home she can't find the key and doesn't know what to do. In a panic, she calls her daughter. A bit later, the Disciples come to her assistance! The next day, the old lady shows some spunk and instead of going site seeing, she heads over to the club house to meet the gang. Part of this is out of curiosity and part of this is because she's afraid for her daughter's safety. She also ventures to ask if she can even come inside and see what it's like!! What happens next, you should just see for yourself--it's worth it.
Overall, an exceptionally good story made better by a wonderful performance by the mother. The only quibble, and it is tiny, is the montage (which I mentioned above). It was a big cliché and even as a cliché it was handled poorly (with grainy old stock, superimposed images and far too many sites for any one person to see in two days--let alone one). If this part had been done better the film would have earned a 10. But, it's still a heck of a good film.
The film begins with a lady leaving her farm in South Dakota to go to New York City to visit her daughter. It's obvious that this lady is like a fish out of water and she seems very intimidated by such a big and scary city. This feeling is made worse by a nasty cab driver, beggars on the street AND the fact that a biker gang ("Satan's Disciples") has a clubhouse right across from her daughter's flat.
When she tries to go out on her own site seeing, the lady is too scared by her surroundings to go out the first day and just stays home alone while the daughter works.
The second day works out much better, and you see a montage (poorly done, by the way) of her seeing all the sites in the city. However, when she returns home she can't find the key and doesn't know what to do. In a panic, she calls her daughter. A bit later, the Disciples come to her assistance! The next day, the old lady shows some spunk and instead of going site seeing, she heads over to the club house to meet the gang. Part of this is out of curiosity and part of this is because she's afraid for her daughter's safety. She also ventures to ask if she can even come inside and see what it's like!! What happens next, you should just see for yourself--it's worth it.
Overall, an exceptionally good story made better by a wonderful performance by the mother. The only quibble, and it is tiny, is the montage (which I mentioned above). It was a big cliché and even as a cliché it was handled poorly (with grainy old stock, superimposed images and far too many sites for any one person to see in two days--let alone one). If this part had been done better the film would have earned a 10. But, it's still a heck of a good film.
You shouldn't judge a book by its cover
llltdesq8 September 2014
Warning: Spoilers
This short won the Academy Award for Live Action Short. There will be spoilers ahead:
This is a very funny and charming short about a woman named Marion, recently widowed, visiting her daughter in New York City. Across from the building where her daughter lives, a motorcycle "club" has its headquarters/"clubhouse". The bikers going in and out look like the stereotypical biker-long hair, tats, bandannas and so on.
Marion is concerned about them and has nightmares involving them. Then, one day when she has a problem, one of them helps her out. She goes across the street and thanks him the next day, in the process getting the other side of the story regarding one or two earlier plot points and she decides they're really not so scary. There's a great development I won't spoil, it leads to a marvelous ending.
In addition to all of that, there's a thread running through the film regarding the dynamics of the mother and daughter relationship. "Once a mom, always a mom" is a big theme in this short.
This short is on a DVD from Atom Films and is well worth finding. Most recommended.
This is a very funny and charming short about a woman named Marion, recently widowed, visiting her daughter in New York City. Across from the building where her daughter lives, a motorcycle "club" has its headquarters/"clubhouse". The bikers going in and out look like the stereotypical biker-long hair, tats, bandannas and so on.
Marion is concerned about them and has nightmares involving them. Then, one day when she has a problem, one of them helps her out. She goes across the street and thanks him the next day, in the process getting the other side of the story regarding one or two earlier plot points and she decides they're really not so scary. There's a great development I won't spoil, it leads to a marvelous ending.
In addition to all of that, there's a thread running through the film regarding the dynamics of the mother and daughter relationship. "Once a mom, always a mom" is a big theme in this short.
This short is on a DVD from Atom Films and is well worth finding. Most recommended.
Appalling.
Randall Good16 August 2001
Appalling because a student film had won the Academy Award for best live-action short. My fellow film students and I were hopeful when we watched it.
Appalling because it is so bad. As cornball as it gets. It's competently made (you don't question the technical aspects of the film), but it's utterly charmless, bland, and unfunny. It's like watching bad television. It thinks it's a lot better than it is. So, apparently, does the AMPAS.
Maybe I shouldn't be at all surprised that it won an Oscar. Winning one these days seems to be more of an insult than a compliment.
Appalling because it is so bad. As cornball as it gets. It's competently made (you don't question the technical aspects of the film), but it's utterly charmless, bland, and unfunny. It's like watching bad television. It thinks it's a lot better than it is. So, apparently, does the AMPAS.
Maybe I shouldn't be at all surprised that it won an Oscar. Winning one these days seems to be more of an insult than a compliment.
"what a gem"
quint197517 February 2005
.....funny what a simple name can do,,,I recently saw a 2004 Best picture nominated film titled "Sideways" and knew I had seen the name Rex Pickett for writing credits in a film a few years back...It was for this 2000 'best live action short Oscar winner...I fell in love with this movie in its first release,,,its story line was fantastic with the perfect mixture of mother,daughter tenderness without it being corny!!
The production was first rate for a short film and it wasn't until a few yrs later that I learned it had been a student film from AFI.Producer Tamara Tiehel and director Barbra Schock deserve great praise for never letting this film slip into the "student project" genre...It's pace is perfect and the kinship between "Biker" and the Mother are first rate,,,the technical end of the film are up to snuff also....the cinematography is warm and subtle in the countryside, and hard and gritty in the inner city ex.(Scorcese's Mean Streets)..a great short film with some great laughs..
The production was first rate for a short film and it wasn't until a few yrs later that I learned it had been a student film from AFI.Producer Tamara Tiehel and director Barbra Schock deserve great praise for never letting this film slip into the "student project" genre...It's pace is perfect and the kinship between "Biker" and the Mother are first rate,,,the technical end of the film are up to snuff also....the cinematography is warm and subtle in the countryside, and hard and gritty in the inner city ex.(Scorcese's Mean Streets)..a great short film with some great laughs..
Very funny and enjoyable
bawilz12 December 2002
I recently saw this film and thoroughly enjoyed it and thought it was very funny. I thought the actress did a wonderful job showing her feelings of going from a rural place to a "scary" city. I also enjoyed the positive behavior from the bikers. Highly recommended!
A Real Gem
thirteenprime12 March 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I just found this terrific short film on Shorts HD early this morning. It's sweet and funny, and manages to be both those things without becoming cloying or trite. Helen Stenborg as a South Dakotan farm widow and Patricia Dunnock as her New York-based daughter are standouts. Also present is the talented Suzanne Cryer as the daughter's neighbor and friend. The well-cast members of the local motorcycle gang are a hoot. What could have been a simple fish-out-of- water story becomes, in the filmmakers' skilled hands, a tale about a lonely widow rejoining the world, and offers at least the prospect of her salvaging her relationship with her emotionally and geographically distant daughter. The film is well worth your time. And here's a shout-out to Shorts HD for making these great little films available to a wider audience.
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