I've been in the city for nearly a decade and a lot has changed, but one social phenomenon is a constant—throw two New Yorkers together for the first time and within minutes their conversation will move toward apartments. It seems we're all fascinated by where our fellow urbanites live, whether they like it, how much they pay, how long they've been there...

For that reason alone you will want to see Gen Art alumni filmmaker Azazel Jacobs' new movie, "Momma's Man," a narrative film which features his real parents and their fascinating, curiosity-filled TriBeCa loft. "Aza's parents are amazing, but walking into something that's so close to a documentary as a fictional character was strange," explains Matt Boren, who plays their son Mikey. "Once I met them, I knew I had to make my own performance as honest as possible." In an odd meta twist, Boren's quest was aided by the fact that he was staying with his own parents in the Village as he shot the film.

Complementing this cinema verites-eque set up is a compelling but deceptively simple storyline: Mikey is a young dad living in L.A. He's visiting his aging parents in New York when he purposely misses his flight back home and takes up permanent residence in his childhood bedroom. He stops taking his wife's calls and starts going through his stuff—high school notebooks, angry letters from ex-girlfriends, his guitar. He hangs out with his old neighborhood pal by day and sets the dinner table at night.

In an effort to avoid embracing a future that scares him, Mikey fiercely clings to the past, oblivious to the harm he's causing to the people who love him the most. It's funny and sad all at once, kind of like how closing an important chapter of your life always is.

"Momma's Man" is now playing at the Angelika Film Center, 18 West Houston Street, (212) 995-2570.

- Caroline Stanley

Similar Topics:alumni filmmaker, film

comments (0) : Send to a Friend : Subscribe

:  digg this :  del.icio.us! :