Searching for Wooden Watermelons

I think it's pretty-safe-to-say that ALL of us have found ourselves in a search for our OWN "theme"... our OWN "tune"... our OWN "passion"...

SEARCHING FOR WOODEN WATERMELONS does an EXCELLENT job of putting the

"search" out there for us in VERY REAL (but simple) terms...with CHARACTERS all of us can identify with and relate to...

fyi - I just viewed this movie today at the DEEP ELLUM FILM FEST in Dallas, TX. I had the privilege to meet and chat with the writer, director, and some cast members. I was MOST impressed with how the "group" reflected the "theme" of the movie, and has broken through the "fear barrier" to pursue REAL passions and DREAMS!

As a result - it's EVIDENT that the "film" is a work of passion... a work of "heart"... (I feel these are CORE ingredients missing from some of the "commercial" flicks out there today...)

I would give this show "2 thumbs up"... WAY up!!! The writing, the characters, and the story-line touch your heart-and-soul...then urge you to forget "fear"... and trust your "heart"!!!

I FOR SURE "hope" this film will make it's way out there to a LARGER audience... This "art"... this "theme"... this "wooden watermelon" deserves to be SEEN!

Searching for Wooden Watermelons, a 2003 independent film, will probably seem unremarkable to some viewers. It has no sex scenes. The profanity is minimal. There are no strikingly hilarious scenes. There are no action scenes, no scary or gory moments.

Don't let those things discourage you from watching it. SFWW is an excellent

character study that follows the discontentment of someone who, rebelling against their apparent destiny in life, decides they want more. From the appearance of an outsider, 25 year-old Jude Farnie seems to have a happy life. She was born and raised in Beaumont, Texas. She's finally about to graduate from college after transferring twice. She has a steady boyfriend who loves her and plans soon to propose to her. For all practical purposes, everything's falling into place for Jude to settle down as a wife and as a court reporter.

While watching this film, I got the strong impression that director Bryan

Goldsworthy and Wendy English (who stars as Jude and also wrote the screenplay and co-produced the film) both know how to make the most of this independent

film's limited budget. One of the first shots in the movie is of Jude walking down the road in her royal blue graduation cap and gown-an excellent way of drawing a

viewer's attention and a strong indication that something isn't right. The film gets directly to the point. As it turns out, Jude walking down the road in her graduation outfit serves a purpose: she left her graduation ceremony prematurely out of no desire to claim it since she doesn't want to work as a stenographer. And although she does love her boyfriend and her dysfunctional family, she wants something more out of life.

In my lifetime I've seen countless low-budget films, most of them horror and sci-fi films from the seventies and eighties. Of them are Tourist Trap and Exterminators of the Year 3000. What usually plagues these films, besides the laughable special effects, silly plotting and other low-grade production values, is the terrible acting. I was really surprised by the good acting in SFWW. As the opening credits rolled across the screen, I recognized no names-not even that of a yesteryear star looking for any type of role to either make a comeback or (more likely) pay some bills. Despite it, though, I found myself amazed that all of the principle characters did a fine acting job.

The good acting could be because this drama-comedy is also largely

autobiographical: English left Beaumont to follow after a dream of working in the entertainment industry. I think her own personal experiences help to make this film work. The characters come across as genuine and down-to-earth without any of the small town stereotypes that often come when even established actors play the parts without knowing the area.

As we watch the film, we see that Jude has been recording countless sitcoms on television since she got her first VCR nearly 20 years ago. Her apparent reason: to study comedy shows, see how they're written and develop the skills to become a successful TV writer. This is her dream, her calling in life. She and her best friend, Riley Jefferson (played by Chad Safar), have plans to become partners in comedy writing. Riley, though, faces a dilemma, follow his dreams and go with Jude out to California on little more than hope or stay in Texas and help his father try to keep the family's theater business going in the black?

Jude is a character many of us, particularly me, can identify with. What's better-to settle down into a comfortable life that you find yourself discontent with or take a chance and follow a dream? As Jude contemplates what to do, the film also focuses around her family and friends' reaction to what she wants to do. Jude also faces the task of dealing with a death in the family, a grandparent's declining health and her relationship with her child-like mother.

SFWW is primarily a drama with some comedy thrown in. Throughout the film,

there's narration thrown in (something I've always liked). At the end in the final narration, Jude speaks from the angle of looking back five years later. English tells you just enough to leave you hanging as to what ultimately happened to her

character, but just enough to let you know that her character has no regrets.

3 STARS (out of four)

I would have given this a 10 out of 10, but I took off a point for the terrible title. The title is so bad, that I almost didn't watch it. I'd seen it coming up in my 'you might also like' list over and over, I'd even added it to my 'to watch' list, but just never could get around the boring title (which tells me NOTHING of what the movie is about), and the synopsis (on Amazon Instant Video), which says something about it being set in Beaumont, TX. (I have to say, this fact alone was the ONLY reason I ended up giving it a try--I'm from Texas).

This movie is about facing your fears head on and stepping off that precipice into the great unknown. In other words, taking that chance, that risk of failing, but doing the thing you fear to do anyway. This is Jude Farney's (played by Wendy English) story of how she came to do just that. ****The title should give us a hint that this is what the movie is about--or at least the synopsis for crissakes!!***** The film does not have any lagging bits (as so many low budget Indies do). Everything that happens on screen moves the plot forward, there are no filler scenes of people walking down the street for a full 5 minutes, or driving in their car for same, while some crappy indie song plays in the background. I will admit, there is a 20-30 second scene at the beginning with her walking down the road, but it ends quickly, and grounds you in the location (as it was meant to do), without becoming filler.

This is what indie story telling should be, but too often isn't. It has a beginning, a middle, and an end. And in this case, quite satisfying. Definitely worth a couple of hours of your time.

This movie is free to stream on Amazon for Prime Members, and, I think is also available on Netflix.

I highly recommend this movie.

This is a great film with a great message. Several interesting characters bring this story to life. Jude, a young girl from the small Texas town of Beaumonunt dreams of writing sitcoms, after three separate graduations, she yurns to spread her wings an discover her full potential. These dreams and hindered by her Psychosamatic mother and grandma. Along with her friends. After her her boyfriend proposes, she must decide where she belongs.

This movie is a wake up call to all of those folks who are afraid to take a leap of faith. It's a sweet film that will surely open up your eyes, and make you realize that you have to take risks in life. The cinematography in this film is superb, and all the acting is superb. Definitely a well directed movie, and everyone should see this film!