glmb

I saw this just-about-perfect film when it screened at the Maryland Film Festival in May, 2005. Set in a small town, it tells the story of a Chesapeake Bay waterman's family as they pass through a crisis. The movie is superbly cast, with both famous (Cherry Jones) and unknown actors giving fine, nuanced performances. The Chesapeake Bay currently suffers significant ecological degradation from farm runoff, industrial pollution, and other factors. This has severely impacted crab, oyster, and fish populations and hence the livelihood of traditional Bay water-men. It is against this backdrop of economic struggle that the movie's story is told. Already poor and unable to afford health insurance, the family is pushed past the breaking point when their young daughter suffers a swimming injury and needs surgery.

I was part of an enthusiastic audience viewing this short at a recent screening in the Maryland Film Festival in Baltimore. It provides an interesting study of two young confederates who (at first) cooperate in a day of dangerous-driving-for-sexual adventure. Tension builds as the characters' recklessness is increasingly displayed. Competitive disharmony emerges and causes a break between them; they "unhitch" when a line is crossed, with one of them moving into darker territory- perhaps of the "unhinged". Something like fear is glimpsed in the other, and her withdrawal from the game brings the film back from a very dark edge. I look forward to more work from these young filmmakers.