Official Synopsis:
Stuck Like Chuck is a feature length comedy film written, directed, edited and produced by student filmmaker Jerry Cavallaro. The film is a dialogue-heavy romantic comedy about two college students who find themselves in the awkward situation of having to spend the night together. Charlie is a student filmmaker. Juliet is a hot film geek. Rob is just awesome. Since Charlie is a wreck when talking to Juliet outside of class, Rob locks the two of them in their Film-201 classroom for the night. Pop culture is dissected, life is observed and love spends the night in.
  
Our Take:
I had the fortune of meeting young filmmaker Jerry Cavallaro at the 2009 New York ComicCon in Manhattan in February of this year, and I was impressed at what an enthusiastic movie fan and filmmaker he was. A few months later, he asked me if I would review his movie, Stuck Like Chuck. Of course I said I would, but inside I had reservations. Most times when I review independent films, I haven’t met the filmmakers, so it’s easy to be 100% honest. But what happens when I like the guy who made the film? Would my review be biased? What if the movie was terrible? Then I’d have to be like, “Hey, you’re a great guy, but your movie sucked!” What to do, what to do?

Luckily, Jerry solved my problem for me by making an independent film that absolutely does not suck. In fact, very early on in the film, as two of the main characters are discussing films and one of them mentions independent cinema, the other replies, “Yeah, but independent movies usually suck.” And then both characters look knowingly at the camera for just a brief moment. I knew at that point that I was in pretty good hands.

Cavallaro wears his influences on his sleeve, the biggest being Kevin Smith (make sure you freeze frame on the “autographed letter” when it comes up.) What’s nice is that Cavallaro doesn’t rip off Smith, he just uses his films as a springboard. Stuck Like Chuck is definitely its own movie. Now, I’m not going to say the film is perfect; there are a few minor flaws (many of them clearly due to budgetary constraints, such as the sparse sets), but writer/director Cavallaro has a clear sense of humor (make sure you stick around for the end credits… and read them!), the film is well shot and well edited, and I was never bored while watching the movie. That’s the number-one flaw with so many indy movies; they’re boring as hell. Stuck Like Chuck isn’t. If you can’t get behind a movie in which a director wears the t-shirt of Director’s Cameo Magazine during his own director’s cameo, you’re missing out.

Credit goes to the cast as well. Lead actor Joe Moran seems a bit awkward at first, but then you realize that that’s his character. He’s supposed to be goofy and awkward. In fact, Cavallaro has a great sense of the awkward silence; he’d be perfect for directing an episode of The Office. Patrick McColley’s Rob at first seems to come straight out of the Jay (of Jay and Silent Bob) mold, but his Napoleon Dynamite-meets-Tom Cruise delivery ends up being the source of more than a few laughs. But the real gem of the cast is Jocelyn DeBoer, who is not only stunningly gorgeous, but is the most charming and natural actor in the bunch. This girl has got it all, and I really hope she goes on to bigger and better things. There are also a couple of roles by known actors, including a cameo by Lloyd Kaufman and a pretty sizable role by… well, that would be telling. Let’s just say that if you like goofy, offbeat humor, you’ll be pretty impressed with who Cavallaro snagged as a cast member.

In the end, Stuck Like Chuck is a fantastic first effort from a young filmmaker, and it’s a film I enjoyed watching. Most importantly, Jerry Cavallaro is an impressive young filmmaker who I actually think has a future in this business, and that’s saying something. I can’t wait to see what he does next! (Stuck Like Chuck 2: Elevator Boogaloo, indeed.)

Overall Picture:
Movie: A

- Mike Spring
Editor