Director Lee Loechler’s comedy short is a hilarious and beautifully acted statement about the lengths parents will go through to bring their child over to their religion. And not as a sense of best intentions, but only for personal victory. As someone who spent his entire life being lured to Catholicism through any means necessary by many, “Choosing Sides” is a hilarious commentary on that moment where some parents begin trying to bring their children over to their faith.
Timothy J. Cox and Rachel Lynn Jackson give fantastic performances as two parents of mixed faith that realize their son Max is about to reach puberty. Mom Ellen is Jewish and anxious to convince her son to begin thinking about his celebration, while dad Peter begins his pursuit to convince Max that Catholicism is the best way to go. The dialogue exchange between the pair of actors is really funny, and delivered at a rapid fire pace to where you can barely keep up. There are some really funny but desperate means of attempting to convince Max that one religion is great, while the other is terrible, and the parents do whatever they can to convince him that theirs is the best.
The battle for Max’s line of faith is clearly a personal war for the married couple, and writer Yael Green provides sharp commentary on proselytizing, and how idiotic these personal battles can be. Cox and Lynn Jackson have a great chemistry and feel very natural in their roles, while their resentful glances add a hilarious punch to every scene. The resulting blow in the final minutes of the film from their torn son is icing on the cake, and really does reflect the idea of being a parent, where proselytizing can transform in to sheer resentment and mockery.