Cinema Crazed

2005

Rated: Unrated

Genre: Mock Documentary Drama

Directed By: John W. McKelvey

Running Time: 28 Minutes

Review by: Felix Vasquez Jr.

Review Date: 3/13/10

LUNCH BREAK

I reviewed "Lunch Break" back in 2005 for Film Threat, and receiving it again to review for my own site is quite an interesting experience. Re-watching it reminded me what a joy it was to watch the first time experiencing a short mock documentary centered around the working class and their reliance on big corporations to get by and support their family. John W. McKelvey's short film is about something, and in the midst of a really bad repression where everyone is losing their jobs and working for basically nothing, "Lunch Break" holds a deeper social relevance now than it did five years ago. People are at a point where they're sacrificing everything from their personal happiness to their dreams just to get a paycheck and survive another day, and "Lunch Break" has a resonance to it that reaches toward the audience or anyone who has ever been in a rut at a dead end job. A documentary crew decides to chronicle the life of a working mom who is struggling through life trying to get an education while also working at the local supermarket.

The young woman is very well educated and highly intelligent thus defying the normal pre-conceptions of minimum wage workers. The young woman being profiled could very well be an executive if she had the chance. She knows the ins and outs of the corporations, she knows how the managers work, she knows who is going to be fired and who isn't, and she has a lot to say about the politics and nepotism that decides who works and who is forced in to unemployment.

Tiffany Anne Carrin gives a strong performance as this young girl with more responsibilities than anyone she knows, and she's unfortunately stifled by her inability to pursue her potential. Sadly, like everyone else of her kind she won't be listened to because she's merely a dollar figure and a drone to the people deciding her fate. She has major aspirations and is on the verge of obtaining the education she desires but is forced to basically stick to her job because she needs to put food on the table and focus on her duties as an employee at her supermarket. Like many of the workers in America you're either forced in to subservient work that hinges on the decisions of managers or you end up in a corner where it's now impossible to crawl out of and reclaim some of your dignity and impetus, and in the climax, McKelvey makes it clear where this young woman is headed and how the snake has basically eaten its own tail and may continue to do so indefinitely. McKelvey's film is fiction but it feels entirely like a documentary because the issues and the human condition focused here has never been more powerful as they were since the film was originally conceived.

Speaking as someone with a friend whose very livelihood and financial standing depends on the decisions of corporations and contracts and unions, "Lunch Break" is a mock documentary that is relevant in every sense of the word standing as a realistic look at the plight of the everyday worker that speaks more about their situation than any documentary usually can.

For more information on "Lunch Break," visit the official website.

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