Small Time

Al Klein (Christopher Meloni) owns an used car lot. Ash Martini (Dean Norris) is his second-in-command, Barlow (Amaury Nolasco) is the mechanic, and Gail (Ashley Jensen) is the new secretary with many excuses to go home early. Al misses his son Freddy (Devon Bostick)'s graduation but his ex-wife Barbara (Bridget Moynahan) and Chick (Xander Berkeley) don't know it. Freddy decides to forget about college and join him as a car salesman.

Writer/director Joel Surnow has made a couple of successful TV shows but none of his successes are in comedies. This is not going to break that streak. There are some fun sales techniques. The family drama is anchored by some good actors but it doesn't work. In the end, this struggles to gain any traction.

Yes, I liked the movie, it's not just a comedy but also a drama of a father and son situation, that most people can relate, all actors did a great job on their roles and were really believable. Dean Norris, I liked him ever since I saw him on Breaking Bad, and I felt his character was pretty funny in here. The movie develops very good and gives a lesson at the end of what real life is if you don't have an education, I guess. The movie has its moments and hits the comedy moments on the spot and get deliver really well, as well for the serious scenes that this movie display. I like the scenes of the car dealership when they are selling the cars, I liked the Hispanic guy he was really funny as well. As I was rewatching this movie I understood it more and I liked more than my first view, like I said before really good acting by all actors, I give " Small Time" a 5 out of 10 Stars.

I love films that are about people as opposed to films where there is a lot of action. So, while the public often flocks to blockbusters with huge budgets and explosions, I am often more happy seeing a much quieter style of film—one where the characters are the center of the film. This doesn't make me right or wrong—it's just the sorts of films I usually prefer. For example, after seeing the most recent Oscar-nominees for Best Picture, one of my very favorites was "Nebraska" and I much preferred it to most of the action-packed and star-studded films running against it. Because of my tastes in films, Small Time is pretty much exactly the sort of movie for me—and it may just be that way for you if you're looking for an interesting story about seemingly normal folks.

Christopher Meloni (of "Law & Order SVU" and "True Blood" fame) stars as Al Klein—a divorced used car salesman whose ethics are extremely limited to say the least! He and his partner, Ash (Dean Norris), will say almost anything to close a sale and they are good at what they do. A big surprise comes to Al, however, when his son, Freddy (Devon Bostick), graduates. Instead of going off to college at Cal Poly (one of the top schools in the country), Freddy announces that he wants to move in with dad and go to work with him selling cars. At first this seems wonderful —father and son together and doing what Al loves most. But, as time passes, the awkward son starts to become more and more like his dad—and perhaps even better when it comes to selling cars. This change in Freddy causes an emotional crisis for Al. Does he really want the kid to be a chip off the old block?!

This is a wonderful character-driven story. Through the course of the film, Meloni's character grows—but not in a way that is unrealistic or contrived. And, most importantly, it is not a HUGE change—but a reasonable change. Meloni and the rest of the cast are great—and Meloni proves he's not just good on television but as a movie actor as well. I loved Bostick's performance almost as much as Meloni's and there were also a lot of nice supporting characters that give the film wonderful depth and humor (the opening scene with the young car thief is amazingly clever and made me smile). While this isn't a comedy exactly, some parts are funny and some of it is quite poignant. This film should be a huge boost to the career of Joel Surnow. While Surnow has written a quite a few scripts before this (mostly for TV—such as "24" and the amazingly overlooked "Nowhere Man") and has a few producer credits, here he also gets a chance to direct as well as write the story—and he did a great job with both.

This film would make an excellent date night. Women seem to really like Meloni and the film has a lot for the guys as well. Intelligent and well worth your time.

As a longtime fan of Chris Meloni, someone who in my opinion is an excellent actor, it boggles the mind why he would associate himself professionally with this piece of California based garbage. There is nothing that distinguishes this picture from many others of its ilk, father-troubled son conflicts and all the issues that go along with them. Written and poorly directed by Joel Surnow, a run of the mill comedy writer, Chris had little to work with, so I'll excuse him this time. Every actor makes clunkers and this was certainly one of Mr. Meloni's. Maybe he needed the money. Perhaps Los Angeles and the quintessential New Yorker Mr. Meloni is had poor chemistry. Whatever it is, 'Small Time' is a forgettable film. Don't waste an hour and 40 minutes of your life watching it, you'll never get that time back.

We loved this film for its thoughtfulness and quiet charm, dealing as it did with matters such as friendship, love and loyalty. All the performances are great - even the irritating Chick is a good study in greed and arrogance. However, in the last 20/30 minutes the makers ran low on money or inspiration and the focus was lost. Son Freddie more or less just disappeared and was only heard of via a letter at the last minute, and the final few minutes seemed rushed and perfunctory. Still a great film though. Recommended if you like films without ten car chases every minute and explosions all over the place.