Joyful Partaking

This film, directed by William Moreing, is well worth any viewer's time who wants to see an honest movie, rich with life and purpose. The director carefully ensembles a collection of beautiful stories contained in one small suburb. The film allows the viewer to glide through a closely-knit neighborhood, with permission to experience what is REALLY happening in the neighbors' backyards. Early on, it is realized that 'a special something' is absent from the characters' lives. What makes this film so extraordinary is the way in which the characters move toward something different in their lives. The film maintains the universal theme that life rarely turns out perfectly, yet offers viewers the chance to imagine what lies in store for these hard-working characters. I look forward to seeing what Moreing comes up with next.

He is certainly a talented film-maker.

ROLL UP! ROLL UP! Fancy spending two hours in the company of some of the most annoying, stupid people in existence? You've got the middle aged spinster, who treats her dog like a baby. The smart kid, who wants to fit in but gets bullied on a daily basis. A recovering stroke victim who falls down outside and spends most of the film prostrate on the ground. The graduate who takes a job looking after a disabled Chinese guy and his obnoxious parrot. And a suicidal grieving father, who's lost his son and now just wants to end it all. His climatic strip in the middle of the neighbourhood is a good demonstration of how NOT to end a movie. It tries to be moving/funny but is cringeworthy to the max.

If I lived near any of these sad cases, I'd be putting my house on the market that same day. Seriously, you'd cross the street to avoid the majority of them... so what made the director think we'd want to be subjected to a full-length feature about their pathetic lives? HEAR a lady talk to a canine in a goo-goo voice as it poos on her path. SEE a pensioner stuck lying down in someone's garden for hours, despite people being only a few feet away. WITNESS a man lose his mind by giving his entire fortune away to perfect strangers. These are just a few of the petty conflicts and dull dilemmas posed here that trouble these idiots. Frankly my dear, I didn't give a damn...

JOYFUL partaking? Far from it. 4/10

John Procaccino's portrayal of a man hollowed out by tragedy--left with nothing but his sense of humor and a lukewarm determination to stop the pain--is genuine and compelling. His neighbors use his life's publicized downward spiral as a yardstick to measure their own suburban suffering. While some characters' desperation is more quiet than others, all share an unwillingness to give up, hoping against hope that life will turn out they way they dreamed it would.

William Moreing shows his talent for telling a universal story with straightforwardness and honesty; every character is archetypal and very recognizable. Some performances are much stronger than others but the uneven casting doesn't slow down Moreing's search for meaning in the everyday world. Albert Camus said the only serious question is whether to kill yourself or not. Tom Robbins said the only serious question is how to make love stay. This story explores that human duality.

It takes a soft touch to pull off a modestly budgeted movie about sorrow and loss, death and suicide, and bullying and hopelessness. But the reverse side of each coin is revealed with grace. For every act of senseless violence there is compassion abounding, for every tear there is a kiss, and for every loss there is indeed gain.

The message here is that whatever's around the next corner is worth waiting for. And you get to pick the corner.

I was so impressed with this film. The production values were terrific. Even the sound was excellent(not often so for independent films). The characters were strong, interesting and believable and the message universal. This movie made me laugh and cry and want to see it again.

We saw Joyful Partaking at Telluride Indiefest 2001. It was the last film shown at the festival and the longest, two disadvantages going in and despite that, we were RIVETED. The quality of the script, the performance of the actors and the pacing of the film was top notch and a real testament to the talent of William Moreing, who wrote and directed it. The universal message of this film is delivered with a clever mix of poignancy and humor and the story is one that everyone can relate to. It's not surprising that Joyful Partaking will be screened at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC. It is truly a work of art and we highly recommend it. Sincerely, K&L