Some Mild Spoilers**
There are obvious 'criticisms' to make. But there really aren't. It's a low budget flick, so I can't really be mad it doesn't look like The Wolf of Wall Street. And maybe two years ago I couldn't have gotten past that.
The film is about that guy from the small town that always needed to get away becuase it was a small town and to him that meant it was lowly and so were the people in it. He's forced to come back after the death of his Grandmother and runs in to an old friend who has stayed young, the titular Donald. But we start to realize that maybe it wasn't that he truly felt the town was lowly. That maybe he himself felt lowly and thought he could fix it by becoming a New York Banker. In one of the first scenes he pretends not to recognize his realtor. Later, we find out he's been following her on social media and has a crush on her.
There are some really great shots in here. And I found myself wondering towards the end of the film how some of the earlier shots looked so amateur. But I have to imagine that it's difficult to shoot in bright daylight in a snowy climate and make even Idris Elba look darker than Casper.
I quite seriously do not think I've laughed out loud at a film so many times in the past 5 years. And I watched this alone, with no audience to assist my chuckles. There's this one laugh involving a poster, that you know is coming, but is somehow even funnier when it comes. I love that.
There's this delightful scene that takes place by candlelight. I daren't ruin a moment of it. It's short and it's damn sweet. Other, poorer filmmakers would have milked it I bet. There's also this great scene that takes place at Donald's place of work and it gets even greater later, but in the moment it's great too.
There's some superb acting. The guy who plays Donald's step-dad, mwah. Kris Avedisian's portrayal of Donald is just picture perfect. He also wrote and directed the film. But really he just smokes it as Donald. He exudes an innocence that allows us wholeheartedly to buy into both his humor and affection. His performance reminded me that there's nothing wrong with cliches and dammit if I can't remember who said this, but it's something along the lines of Everything's already been said, but it hasn't been said by you.
I watch a lot of big budget studio pictures. And this is a brilliant reminder of _________. Will this gem ever be unhidden