The 4:30 Movie
A group of teens in the 1980s spend the day theater-hopping.
If there’s one thing that filmmaker Kevin Smith has done consistently well since the 90s, it’s creating slice-of-life films that take a day filled with nostalgic mundanity and turns it into something more. In his debut film CLERKS he captures the mind-numbing aspects of retail work. In Mallrats he looks at young adults in arrested development working through to the next stages of life. In his latest outing, THE 4:30 MOVIE, Kevin once again goes back to his New Jersey roots and delivers a heartfelt homage to childhood love and friendship set against America’s actual favorite pastime, going to the movie theater.
THE 4:30 MOVIE sees Zajur’s character Brian David asking out Melody Barneget (Siena Agudong) to see a movie with him. Not content to see one movie a day, and needing to kill time until his date, Brian David recruits his friends Belly, the quiet one, and Burny, the tough guy/lady’s man, to movie hop with him at their local theater, run by the film’s antagonist, Ken Jeong’s character Manager Mike. Following a fight between the trio of friends, Smtih goes back to an old gem back from his MALLRATS days with Burny meeting his hero, Major Murder (played by Sam Richardson) who inadvertently gives him some sage-like advice as the movie flows into the third act. He pulls this routine one more time with Brian David when he meets the Hot Usher (Genesis Rodriguez) who validates his love for movies and sets him on the path to becoming a filmmaker later in life after a great chat about Martha Coolidge flicks. If you’re expecting to see Smith subvert the genre at the end of the movie, then you’ll be disappointed. He ties everything up nicely and leaves you exiting the theater satisfied.
Set mainly in Smtih’s own real-life movie theater in Atlantic Highlands, THE 4:30 MOVIE is filled with all sorts of shenanigans from the main cast including star Austin Zajur, who plays movie lover Brian David, standing in for a young Kevin Smith. If you’re a fan of Kevin’s stories about his life from his stand-up tours and “Evening With…” specials, or if you’ve listened to his podcast SmodCast over the years, then you’ll probably pick up on the absolute treasure trove of inside jokes and references that Smith has populated his film with. It’s just enough to make his hardcore fans excited while still being obscure enough to not scare away the normies.
Rounding out the main cast of youngsters are Siena Agudong (the “Resident Evil” TV series), Nicholas Cirillo (FRESH KILLS), and relative newcomer Reed Northrup (the “Teenage Euthanasia” TV series). There’s some great chemistry between all of them which makes watching this 80s throwback film feel even more authentic. Kudos to the costuming, and hair/makeup people who made these actors look like they stepped right out of a DeLorean along with Marty McFly. The rest of the cast includes some Smtih staples from his career. If you ever wondered what it must be like to be directed by Kevin Smith, you probably can guess it’s not a bad gig by how many people since the early 90s have continued to come back and work on his films time after time. Considering that Smith isn’t known for making ashy big-budget Hollywood productions (with maybe one exception when he was tapped to direct COP OUT), you know these folks aren’t in it for the money.
THE 4:30 MOVIE feels like the movie Kevin Smith might have made if MALLRATS had an indie film budget. It’s a small, intimate movie with relatively low stakes that is funny, entertaining, and full of heart. It’s an homage to John Hughes movies, young love, and friendship.
