Burt, a 69-year-old street musician living with Parkinson’s, has his life turned upside down when Sammy, a wayward young man from New York, shows up claiming to be his son. Having always dreamed of being a father, Burt embraces Sammy and invites him to stay for the weekend at his home, where he lives with his grumpy landlord, Steve.
Closing out our Cinequest reviews for this season, we have a chance to look at a small, independent film with some amazing properties. Burt has some interesting aspects to examine, things we associate with independent festival films. A small cast. A very small budget. An appropriately scoped environment in which to film. And the decision to film in black and white. This is a textbook example of the kind of film you discover at festivals.
Still, in many ways Burt rises above these limitations. The script is tight, with voices given to the actors that ring true. Characters living with interesting and uniquely flawed situations. We look into the lives of elderly folks who are still characters who are deciding how to live out their years.
Burt (Burton Berger), is a guitarist and singer in his late 60’s, managing his affliction with Parkinson’s disease. Most of what he does is just give back to people with his art. He still dreams of making it big with his songs, to be a superstar. His room mate and landlord Steve, (Steven Levy), tends towards a slightly manic, a bit obsessive and unnecessarily demanding, but is actually very sharp and insightful. And Sammy, (Oliver Cooper), Burt’s newly revealed adult son, has not done well with his life, and continues to make bad decisions. The core cast works well together, so well that the handful of supporting characters are almost unnecessary to the story being told.
Of course there are some secrets here. To go any further than the trailer’s content would spoil some great surprises within the film. We could almost see the film just focusing on Burt’s delight of connecting with a son so late in life… but there’s much more to the film.
I recommend this film without hesitation. It is amazing that such a good piece of work could be shot in just seven days on a budget of $7,000. But those are just statistics. In the end director/writer Joe Burke and co-writer Oliver Cooper have delivered something wonderful to the film festival crowd.
You can also watch online at Cinejoy! March 24-31, 2025!
Ric Bretschneider
March 20, 2025
San Jose CA