Wuss (Clay Liford, 2011): USA

Reviewed by Jim Burns. Viewed at the AFI Fest 2011.

Wuss is a very unique and funny film that follows the life of a substitute teacher that struggles daily with constant ridicule from his students, friends, and most of all his family. Some of the harshest, yet funniest dialogue, comes from his sister played by Jennifer Sipes, who is an absolute scene stealer. Nate Rubin is brilliant and his comedic timing and portrayal of a pathetic loser who refuses to stand up for himself will remind the audience of Matthew Broderick’s performance in the cult classic Election.

While the premise of this film may seem familiar to many film-goers, Wuss is filled with unexpected moments that  help lead the audience from one hilarious moment after another without the usual lull in jokes while a typical Hollywood love interest is established.  Director and screenwriter Clay Liford chose to work with a cast that he was very familiar with; Nate Rubin, Jennifer Sipes, and Sylvia Luedtkewho plays the mother, were all part of Clay Liford’s previous film My Mom Smokes Weed which has played at over 30 film festivals.

The rest of the cast was filled with actual students from Garland High in Garland, Texas where the movie was filmed on location. Newcomer and leading actress Alicia Anthony was actually discovered while working behind the counter at The Fuzzy Taco in near-by Denton, Texas by producer Barak Epstein after a night of bar hopping. The role of Re-up, a student that is not afraid to follow up on his threats and whose sole focus is to inflict pain on the substitute teacher that he feels has disrespected him, is played by Ryan Anderson. Anderson is a very talented local hip-hop artist that moved to north Texas after surviving Hurricane Katrina. All the hip-hop music used in the film was his. Even though this was Anderson’s first attempt at acting, director Clay Liford does a wonderful job in getting a very authentic and believable performance from the rookie actor, as well as the rest of the  young cast.

It was revealed during the Q and A that some of the funniest dialogue was improvised and delivered by a group of guys that are not actors but actual friends of director Clay Liford. Throughout the film, we are treated with very funny scenes by this group of thirty-something year old guys that get together for a weekly session of Dungeons and Dragons. The dialogue in these scenes is very sharp and witty and includes very personal jabs that could only be delivered by very close friends.

Clay Liford does an amazing job, both as writer and director of this very smart and funny film. He has had success in the past at previous film festivals with his other films like  A Four Course Meal and Earthling, and it seems that his latest attempt with Wuss will garner him even more  well-deserved attention. Wuss was awarded the Audience Award in the Young Americans category at this years AFI Film Festival.