Eight years after his fathers’ death, Peter Davis (Casey Payne), now a ‘big city’ business man, begrudgingly goes back to his little hometown of Summerville to settle the estate. When he gets there, he finds himself once again seduced by the pace of small town life as well as caught up in the one thing Summerville prides itself on: Softball. Peter’s father, an intrinsic member of the softball team “Summerville Hardware”, was beloved by the townsfolk but not as much by his own son. While Peter renews his hometown friendships with Murr (Brad Bumgarden), Roid (Jason Benjamin), Rocky (Wes Murphy), as well as many other eccentric characters of his childhood, he finds himself falling for Summerville all over again... and also for a new face in town, Samantha (Allison Barnes). As Peter is torn between his fast life up north and his old one down south, he is forced to decide what values are most important to him: The security of what he has, or the memories of what he has almost lost.

 

There is a cadre of Southern filmmakers that have been churning out direct to DVD fare over the last

few years. The budgets are low, the actors usually local, the production values fair and the writing average

to poor. The stories are usually told from a down home local perspective and represent a very different

angle on the trials and tribulations of growing up. THE BOYS OF SUMMERVILLE is one of the best of

this bunch that is trumpeting the soul of southern young people who are brave, or stupid, enough to want

to make independent films about their own experiences.

 

THE BOYS OF SUMMERVILLE is the sophomore feature outing for director/writer Brooks Benjamin. On a budget only in the mid five figures, he does a very good job of combining all of his ‘hats’ to tell a compelling story. As cinematographer and editor, Benjamin uses his coverage to good advantage. While rough at times, the editing succeeds in moving the plot along and keeping us interested in the story without taking us out of the world of Summerville. The tape stock and lighting give the film a television look at times but the eye gets used to it; very early into the film, one doesn’t care about it that much.

 

Mr. Benjamin’s better than average writing is helped tremendously by very good casting of both amateurs and professionals. The only casting miss is the lead role of Peter (Casey Payne). Mr. Payne is a good actor. It is just that his baby face good looks don’t convey those of a man who has lost part of his soul in the big city. It also gives his visage little place to go as he softens to his old home town. Peter’s love interest Sam played by Allison Varnes is well done and believable as the army brat cum auto mechanic. But the show is stolen by Wes Murphy who plays Peter’s childhood friend and pal Rocky.

 

Making a low budget comedic drama that is believable is very hard to do. It is nay impossible to get inexpensive actors who can be sympathetic and repulsive at the same time. To Wes Murphy’s credit, he pulls it off in fine fashion. This is a thespian that you will see more of I am sure. The rest of the cast of eccentric, sweet souls is also very well done. Southern stereotypes are combined with warmth and humility by one and all. Director Benjamin is able to extract a measure of complexity from his actors that makes their characters remarkably empathetic. We care about these people and want to know more.

 

In many ways THE BOYS OF SUMMERVILLE feels like a well crafted 108 minute television pilot. It loosely ties up the main character plot and gives us something to ponder about our own lives, while leaving many of the townspeople’s next moves open to audience speculation.