Writer: Lisa Mikitarian (Screenplay)
Starring: Connie Lamothe, Darren Barzegar, Nick Nerangis, Madeline Mikirarian, Tony Villa
Plot: Poor Herbert…if only the brain tumor had killed him… A charming dark comedy with a vintage vibe. A wife and son live it up while their miser-rat of a husband/father lies in a hospital bed–death by brain tumor imminent. It’s all fun and games until he experiences a miraculous 4th of July recovery.
Runtime: 1 Hour 40 Minutes
There may be spoilers in the rest of the review
Verdict: Quirky Funny
Story: Spent starts with Lonnie (Barzegar) son of Herbert (Nerangis) is ready to spend his father’s money and Evelyn (Lamothe) is preparing to remarry with her husband’s money, the plan goes wrong when Herbert recovers.
With Herbert recovered, Lonnie and his lover Margot (Mikitarian) and Evelyn with her lover Gregory (Villa) must plan a new way to get rid of Herbert which leads them down an elaborate plan to poison him and pocket the money.
Thoughts on Spent
Characters – Evelyn is the unhappy wife ready to see her husband die, so she can move on with her life and new lover, she enjoys spending and this new life would give her this chance. when he survives she is left wondering just what to do next. Lonnie is the son that quits his job at the cinema when he knows when he father should be dying, he wants to use the money to get a fancy sports car to get the lovely Margot, he is the first not to believe going through with anything would be a good idea. Herbert is the one everyone thinks is going to die from brain cancer, only he makes a miraculous recovery leading him to become the target to be poisoned, but his new love of life shows just how much he has changed. Margot and Gregory are the lovers waiting to get their hands on the money that could come back their way.
Performances – Connie Lamothe, Darren Barzegar and Nick Nerangis are good to watch as the family members, they each bring a quirk to their character which will get a laugh along the way which makes them standout through the solo or group scenes.
Story – The story follows a mother and son that have been planning their life after their husband and father dies, planning what to spend all the money he will leave them. The problem comes when he doesn’t die and they must figure out how to get him out of the picture. We get to see how a plan starts to come together with multiply people trying to stay ahead of each other it plays into the idea that Herbert is always finding a way to get away from any situation. We can see how the ideas can come together to add in the story to keep us guessing to just what will happen to Herbert. There is also a serious element to parts of the story which will become clear as the story unfolds.
Comedy – The comedy seems to come from the mishaps the family suffer trying to bring about the end of Herbert, this will get the most laughs through the film with ease.
Settings – The film keeps the locations around the idea of a close community who know the secrets to each other’s lives.
Scene of the Movie – Off to feed the ducks.
That Moment That Annoyed Me – We could focus a little bit longer on why Herbert was the way he was before the miracle.
Final Thoughts – This is a fun dark comedy about life, death and rat poison which does offer the biggest questions about where people can go after a sudden change in life.
Overall: Deliciously dark.
Rating