Rotten Mangos

On one of several levels, "Rotten Mangos" is a retelling of the Cain and Abel story reset in Florida 2016. However, this version is not about brother murder, but brother betrayal that has emotionally buried the Mango brothers, buried them deep under anger, hatred and fear.

"Mangos" also has roots in Everyman, a late 15th-century morality play, which uses allegorical characters to examine questions of salvation. What, in the Mangos case, can the brothers do to attain it?

Writer, director, producer Michael Eldon Lobsinger assembled top-notch talent for his compelling and finely tuned screenplay. He deftly turns "Everyman" into a one-location wonder, staging 90% of the film in a narrow alley at the back of a community theatre. In fact the backstage door opens onto the alley, allowing 3 allegorical characters to come and go without the distraction of multiple locations.

It's night in a small Florida town. Homeless Eddie Mango (John Zambito) has staked out a waiting room in the alley out back of a community theatre. At Eddie's invitation, his brother Danny (Lobsinger), a successful businessman shows up in his personal limo, driven by his confidant and chauffeur, played by Bob Sharkey.

At the outset it is clear the guys suffer from nasty psychic wounds, wounds only family can inflict. Maybe reaching out to a sibling after 22 years isn't such a good idea, maybe it is. Revisiting adultery and thievery is a bad idea, and concurrently maybe it's not. As I watched, I hated Eddie, and within a heartbeat I turned against Danny.

While the brothers dance with words and violence, Maggie (Jackie Duke) spies on them from the confines of a cardboard box just big enough in which to lay down. Questions about her flitted through my brain - is she the brothers' mother, crying from her grave, praying that they might reconcile so that she might be redeemed? Is she the faithless woman who screwed them both? Is she, as Eddie offhandedly suggests, a prophetess? Or is she just a homeless drunk?

Vivacious Spirit (Catherine Windecker) sparks the action like a firefly as an actress on the cusp of an opening night. As she does her best to spring peace and gaiety into the Mango troubled hearts and minds, she quotes Martin Luther King, "Only in darkness can you see the stars."

Elizabeth Petrell steps out the backstage door onto the scene as a belly dancer for a last minute rehearsal. The brothers devour her body with greedy eyes while praying inwardly she is the ticket to absolution of their sins.

Theatre owner Jay (Dean Robert Dietrich) stops by for a daily purchase of mangoes from Eddie, perhaps denoting the relationship of what is below (homelessness) and what is above (guardian of the performing arts). Through no fault of Dietrich's performance, this role is the least realized in the film.

Two boys (Demitri Vardoulias and Ian A. Rush) horse around in and out of the alley - an echo of the past, of what the brothers may have been when they were kids.

It is amazing how much drama can be squeezed into this no-man's land location, and equally just how much drama can expand within its narrow limits. "Rotten Mangos" is a remarkable 38-minute film produced on a blood, sweat and tears budget ($10,500). While it simultaneously squeezes and expands the emotional stakes onscreen, it drives us to examine personal responsibility within the family we profess to know.

This review would be remiss if I did not mention the excellent music of Bobby Gugliuzza and the first-rate cinematography of Daniel Deien.

When you come right down to it, isn't our best hope of reaching home to travel in the company of family with compassion? If the Mango brothers can walk the talk, perhaps we can to.

Rotten Mangos is a beautiful short movie with a serious story with a touch of humor from Lake Worth, Florida, where it was filmed.Very well produced e directed. with a amazing awarded soundtrack and special effects !