52°
"Larchmont," a new 97-minute film directed, produced and written by Mamaroneck High School (MHS) graduate Ben Zuckert, is showing Sunday, Dec. 18 at 3:30 p.m. The event, held at the Village Center, includes free refreshments. Go HERE for details.
And yes, folks, you'll recognize a lot of scenes -- think Sherwood's, Le Sirene Ristorante, Foley's Hardware, the Larchmont Library, and, in Mamaroneck, Half Time Beverage and Cosmo's, among other scenes.
That's because, according to Zuckert, Larchmont itself is practically a character as the town shapes his character's stories. The film centers on a recent college graduate who questions his medical school decision. This is juxtaposed against the backdrop of his dad losing his job.
The story is not autobiographical per say but is inspired by some of what Zuckert said he was experiencing upon graduating Tufts University in 2014. "I felt conflicted about pursuing something that wasn't really giving back or helping others in a concrete way," he said.
It's also, he said, an odd feeling being 22 or 23 in town. "There aren't many other people your age," he added. "The next closest ages are 18 or 30."
The dad's storyline, stressed Zuckert, is fictional but aspects of the character were influenced by parents he knows.
It's a hard place to not be working when you're a certain age, explained Zuckert, which is one of the reasons why the dad hides his job loss from his friends by wearing tennis whites everywhere he goes.
"I tried to inject comedy into the story," said Zuckert, who now lives in Brooklyn. "Hopefully, the tennis whites help."
This is Zuckert's first feature-length film. A political science major in college, he made his first short in his senior year -- on a zero budget -- and thought, why not tackle something larger? Soon after, he had a script and began shooting "Larchmont" in 2015.
To keep things budget-friendly on his self-funded project, Zuckert, who has other movie ideas up his sleeve, enlisted the help of people he knows -- those are some of his parent's friends in the movie -- as well as fellow MHS buddies Willy Seife and Will Jacobs, though he did hire a few professional actors.
The movie will also screen at the Emelin Theater in Mamaroneck on Thursday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. Go HERE for ticket information.
Go to www.larchmontmovie.com/ for more information.
Click here to follow Daily Voice Mamaroneck and receive free news updates.
