Perry St (Short)
The short film, “Perry St,” follows its story so simply, and so wonderfully, that you want it to continue beyond its 15 minutes. It reminds you of a Woody Allen film minus the grating neurosis of some of his most recent work as we follow a man and his therapist through their time together. The man, Ryan (Mark Epperson), finds himself unhappy with his job and unlucky in his love life. His therapist (Catherine Mary Stewart) shares office space with her husband, and has put a cuckoo clock in her office on a bet. She’s finding Ryan a tough nut to crack; maybe a new relationship will help him out of his funk. Writer-director Antonio Padovan’s film plays it fast and loose with the psychological aspects, but his point is a light and entertaining journey for his main characters, not a dark and depressing emotional trip down to the recesses of the psyche, and Padovan and his cast nail the tone and wit of this story effortlessly. As I said, you want to watch it beyond the 15 minutes it runs. Why can’t filmmakers with greater resources do something this breezy, more regularly?
