Two old school friends are back in town for Thanksgiving and meet up to drink beer and watch the sun come up like they used to do. Both men have since moved away from home for education then jobs and do not see each other too much now.
This is a very good short film but it is one where the viewer needs to meet the film on its home turf to really appreciate what it is doing. For me, in my late thirties, the scenario of the film is familiar since when I was 18 I left Northern Ireland and headed to England at a time when most of my school friend stayed in the country or went to Scotland for their studies. So very quickly people I used to see every single day because people I emailed and saw maybe 3 times a year for drinks while I was home, then once per year, then once every few years and then, frankly, never. It is not that you decide you do not like or care for these people, it is just practical reality that you start to move in different groups and the distance takes its toll till eventually the effort is no longer made and the gap is never closed. To watch We Were Awesome is to see this process start to happen and to see both characters sort of knowing it but not yet really at the point where they totally understand that this is what is happening – which is a honest thing because it is more the type of change you understand looking forward, not one you head into knowing the situation.
For this reason I think the film will play much better for those in their very late 20's and 30's because the film does need you to understand what the characters are doing in between their words. I think probably if you are younger than this and still think your school friends will be friends for your whole life, then probably the film is a bit too subtle for you – which is a fault perhaps of the film, not the viewer. As a fault though, it is one that is understandable because it is better it underplays rather than spelling it out with dramatic interaction or heavy dialogue. As it is it feels natural and real, with the two friends kind of awkward but still kind of close – but undeniably they are together on this hill due to who they were, not who they are – and that is very nicely played.
For target audience this is a very strong short film that is engaging and realistic even if it needs you to be able to relate, which I suspect younger viewers will not quite be able to do to the point that the film needs.
