Blumenthal (Seth Fisher, 2012): US

Reviewed by Lynn Montgomery. Viewed at Santa Barbara Film Festival 2013

So I’m standing there outside the Metro 4, staring at the updated board of over 200 films showing at the Santa Barbara Film Festival. It’s drizzling. My throat hurts. And my left heel is fomenting a blister thanks to the Nicole Richie leopard skin flats my 15 year old foisted on me. Where to start? I’ve signed on to watch at least 20 movies and write reviews on 10 of them. I am the perpetual student – everything from Cuttlefish Silver Casting to The Transformative Power of Authentic Flirting. My husband hates this.My friends roll their eyes. But I say, if a thing is worth doing, it’s worth doing with 20 strangers and an instructor.  And that brings me to FS108A – Film Festival Studies, a ten day field course at film festivals to study U.S. and international fiction, experimental and documentary films.

And why I am standing in the rain, cursing Nicole Richie and drowning in Santa Barbara Film Festival sensory overload.

“What are you going to see?” I ask the 3 guys behind me. Their eyes devour, dissect and process the endless rows of film titles in the effortless manner of 25 year old handsome cool guys with 10 days of film festivities before them.

“I hear Blumenthal is good,” one of the guys answers quickly. “Oh yeah, Blumenthal,” his friend nods. The third  guy smiles. I think I see a canary feather poking out of his mouth.

“Yeah, I heard about Blumenthal,” I tell them. “It’s on my list.”

“Oh yeah? You heard about Blumenthal?”  I have their laser focus now.

“Yes. We’re going to meet with the filmmaker on Monday.”

“I think it’s Wednesday,” he corrects me.

I stop and laugh because it’s definitely raining canary feathers now. “It’s your film, right? You made Blumenthal?”

They all nod and smile. There’s almost an aw shucks moment. I feel their pride and excitement. They are here at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival with their baby and all the anxiety and expectations of a neurotic new father. I am so rooting for their child to be smart, beautiful and funny.

Flash Forward to Wednesday:

I missed the morning session with the filmmakers. My sore throat turned into a bad cold and I couldn’t get out of bed. But I make it to the 10:00 showing of the movie. I see the young Blumenthal filmmakers file in and take their seats near the front. I say hi to Seth Fisher who I now know is the writer/director and star of the movie.  He says he looked for me in the Q and A. I apologize and tell him I’m sick.  He says he knows how that is. “I have a two year old,” he smiles and I see that new papa pride again.

It’s a packed house. A woman gets up and introduces the movie. She pronounces it Blue-Menthol and says there will be a Q and A with the filmmaker after the movie. The lights go down. The movie begins. I settle into my seat.

Final frame, movie ends. Applause. Lights come back on. Blue-Menthol woman introduces Seth and asks for questions. I raise my hand.

“I loved it.”

Blumenthal is a wonderful movie. It’s funny and disarming without being self conscious. It’s like watching Woody Allen 30 years ago. Fisher’s character, Ethan, calls it, “The world of Jewish male neurosis – “Jewrosis.”

Fisher raised money for the film on Kickstarter. “When you donate to this project, we won’t just take your money and leave you in the dust. You’re coming with us! At www.watchmemakeamovie.com, you can monitor our progress from now through post-production. There will be daily updates on all that we do, complete with behind-the-scenes footage and written updates from the cast and crew. Cool, right?”

Very cool.