This Is a Microphone

Phillip Jordan Brooks has fashioned a taut, intense drama, imbued it with much humanity, populated it with excellent performances from all of his actors, and made it immediately engaging from start to finish. It is no easy accomplishment for a 14 1/2-minute movie to say and do as much as this one does, but director Brooks manages it all, with a sure hand and seeming ease.

In the lead role of a young man driven to desperation by financial woes, Scott Gannon Patton delivers a potent and nuanced performance, full of palpable anguish and vulnerability. Luke Eddy and Mary Alfred Thoma are especially notable in supporting roles. The uniformly excellent cast also includes Bill Gallmann, Kurt Deville, Bill Stinchcomb,Katie Walker and a couple of enchanting little girls, Leah Catherine and Lena Thompson.

A standout at the Louisiana Film Festival, this is a true little gem, not to be missed.