Storyline
With sudden passing of his grandmother, Peter Latang returns to his hometown and encounters his long lost, childhood friend, Donald Treebeck. What begins as a simple favor, turns into a long day's journey into the past.
Writers: Kris Avedisian, Kris Avedisian, Jesse Wakeman, Louisa Krause, Tyrone Alcorn, Jesse Wakeman, Louisa Krause, Tyrone Alcorn, Ted Arcidi, Kris Avedisian, Matthew Barletta, Shawn Contois, Alexander Cook, Ariana DeFusco, Kyle Espeleta, Donny Fite, Kate Fitzgerald, Jeremy Furtado, Tom Kilgallen, Patrick Languzzi, , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Cast: Jesse Wakeman -
Peter
Louisa Krause -
Kristin
Tyrone Alcorn -
Bus Driver
Ted Arcidi -
Corey
Kris Avedisian -
Donald
(as Kristopher Avedisian)
Matthew Barletta -
Football guy #2
Shawn Contois -
Logan
Alexander Cook -
The Mortician
Ariana DeFusco -
Bus Patron
Kyle Espeleta -
Security Guard
Donny Fite -
Doug Deflippo
Kate Fitzgerald -
Barbara
Jeremy Furtado -
Brian Touty
Tom Kilgallen -
Bus Passenger
Patrick Languzzi -
Barry
Trivia:
Actors Ted Arcidi (Corey) and Patrick Languzzi (Barry) had a friendship that dated back to 1986 where they trained at the same gym in Waltham, Mass. Arcidi was training for, and later set the world record for the bench press (reflected in the bowling alley office scene) making him the strongest man in the world. Languzzi was a young bodybuilder climbing the amateur ranks where he won two national amateur titles and earned professional status before going on to finish top three at the professional Mr. Universe and top five at the America. See more »
User Review
Author:
Rating: 6/10
There is a palpable sense you get while watching the quirked-out indy
dramedy "Donald Cried". It is the distinct impression that this
maturation-blunted misfit stoner is based on a guy, or perhaps an
amalgamation of them, that Writer, Director and Co-Star Kris Avedisian
knows, or knew, pretty damn well.
Avedisian's take on one of life's helplessly pitiful losers is plain
and simple just so very sad, sad, sad...stultifyingly sad. Some of what
his oblivious and completely without filter character of Donald says
and does is laugh-out-loud funny, yes. But you almost feel guilty
finding folly in these moments because we see how repressively dismal
and desperate this downtrodden dude's existence is, replete with an
horrifically repugnant stepfath...stepCREATURE. Physically, Donald left
high school some two decades ago. Emotionally and mentally, he never
will. He can't, and clearly does not WANT to, break free of the caste
system that defined him, and everyone else, in those carefree and
couldn't care less rambunctious days of his misanthropic metalhead
youth.
Donald's teenage running buddy, Pete (Co-Writer Jesse Wakeman, who I
just gotta say here bares a striking resemblance to a grown-up Jerry
"Leave It to Beaver" Mathers), is a different animal entirely. After
Pete graduated from prep school, he BOLTED out of Warwick, Rhode Island
for fun and fortune as a financier in New York City with absolutely no
notion of returning. Except, that is, to tend to his recently deceased
grandmother's affairs. Which is what reluctantly reunites him with
Donald. And, man, is there some SERIOUS latent hostility festering
beneath the skin of these two, played out in not all that
passive/angrily aggressive fashion during, among other interactions, a
pulverizing playground football game and a furious, aim directly for
the head, snowball fight. Pete is not a likable fellow. And his
deplorable treatment of Donald can't instill anything in you but, once
again, circling back to my fundamental premise, saturating sorrow.
This is not to say that I inherently disliked "Donald Cried" at all.
Avedisian and Wakeman, who have collaborated before on other
small-scale projects, are by and large an engaging tandem, and they
succeed in generating a real, if not real ODDBALL, chemistry as the
movie progresses. And I especially appreciate the fact that this
production was shot on location in the actual town of Warwick, often
times amidst steady wind-whipped snowfall, which serves to accentuate
the uncompromisingly bleak tone of the narrative.
Considering all that we are introduced to over the course of 24 hours
in this story, it hardly comes as a shock to anyone that "Donald
Cried". The genuine stunner would be this: the revelation that this man
doesn't weep openly and without a wisp of restraint every single day he
must awaken to suffer a punishing onslaught of remorseless spirit
annihilation. No different than the day preceding. And precisely as
will be his fate for all the days forthcoming.
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