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When I was in grammar school, there was this one kid (we'll call him Butch) who was light years ahead of everyone else physically. I even remember our phys. ed. teacher shaking his head over Butch's amazing abilities, which were on display no matter what goofy sport we were being forced to participate in. He was taller than most other kids, and by the time teachers separated the male and female students to give us the big, scary, 5th grade talk about the birds and the bees, Butch already had more facial hair than most of the school's educators. Needless to say, he was one of the most popular kids in our class.
Then something strange happened. As the Puberty Fairy visited more and more of my classmates throughout middle school (and, for some late bloomers, high school), Butch's athletic prowess became less exciting. Others assumed the mantle of the Greatest, and when we all parted ways after graduation, Butch may have been one of the shorter teenagers to wear the cap and gown.
A similar tale of peaking too early can be found in Daniel Kay's Way Off Broadway. Broadway focuses on the lives of five artistic types in their mid-20s who live in Manhattan and are struggling to break into various arms of the entertainment industry. Each seemed like they'd be the Next Big Thing while in high school and college, but as adults, they've found the road to stardom is littered with numerous unexpected obstacles.
Morena Baccarin (she plays a space whore on television's upcoming Firefly) is Rebecca, an beautiful actress who splits her time between a bookstore job and an endless string of auditions for tiny parts (like Tree #2 in a stage version of The Wizard of Oz) at which she's told she's too tall, too Jewish, or she's invited for a ride on the infamous casting couch. Forbes March (Mutant X) is Jay, a wonderfully talented guitarist who pretends he has carpal tunnel to avoid playing (for reasons we don't initially understand), preferring instead to be a homeless freeloader who wipes his ass with his shirt when there's no toilet paper available. Sorority Boys' Brad Beyer plays Darren, a playwright wannabe with writer's block, a long-distance relationship and a father who is almost annoyingly supportive. Ethan (Jordan Gelber) and Mickey (Michael Parducci, from the locally produced Checkout) are so afraid of failure, they've opted to postpone their careers in favor of grad school.
These five characters are all friends, though a few have pretty serious spats, and spend a lot of their time eating, drinking, conversing and generally lending each other moral support. Kay's dialogue is very well written and hardly ever feels forced, which helps elevate Broadway above most features by first-time filmmakers. There have been a ton of movies, independent pictures in particular, about struggling, tortured artists, but most are nowhere near this charming and likeable. Part of its success is attributable to its cliché-free script - these characters seem like real people.
An interesting look at failure, redemption and peer support, Broadway also has a sharp romantic edge that kept me guessing until the last minute, when Kay incorporates a moving romantic interlude Cameron Crowe probably wishes he penned. In addition to Kay's script, there are two standout performances - Baccarin, who lights up the screen with her 1000-kilowatt smile, and March, who, despite being Canadian, has a bit of a drawl that makes him look and sound like Owen Wilson channeling James Franco playing James Dean. And keep an eye out for a scene in which the directory of an apartment building lists the names of everyone associated with Broadway.
1:27 - Not Rated
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