My Name is Jerry

Every once in a while a movie comes out of nowhere and stars are born and writers emerge and filmmakers are revealed. It took only about 15 minutes to understand why "My Name Is Jerry" has won so many prestigious film festivals, including Best Drama at the International Filmmakers Festival in London. The movie takes harsh truths about the regrets of middle age and fears about the future and crashes them head-on into a niche of exhuberant youth culture in which people are more concerned with today than yesterday or tomorrow. The wonderful Doug Jones, who usually is hidden behind latex creature effects in movies such as HellBoy, Pan's Labyrinth and Fantastic Four: The Silver Surfer (where he developed a global following), is perfect as Jerry, a weary middle-aged door-to-door book salesman, long divorced from his wife and estranged from his daughter. Jones's 6'5" body, which looks like it is made of pipecleaners, should have gotten its own star billing. But a wrong address leads to an encounter with punk rockers half his age, including Jordan (the lovely Katelyn Carlson), who Jerry finds himself falling for. But when Jerry's wife dies and his estranged daughter (Allison Scagliotti, current star of Warehouse 13 on SyPhy) shows up in his life to try to understand what happened to her father, the comedy and drama become perfectly entwined. The fun of the movie is watching the process of three wildly different people help each other make sense of the world they share together. The script by David Hamilton (whose 8-minute youtube movie "Touch" is one of the most watched on the Internet) was the gem that got the movie the green light. Morgan Mead's direction is surprisingly intuitive, for a young director, about the regrets and insecurities of middle age. Great comic turns by the supporting cast. This movie is a revelation and a joy.

(a preliminary note: this is a review of the movie itself, not the DVD specifically)My Name Is Jerry begins like so many other "dramedies": Jerry is a middle-aged man, estranged from his daughter and dissatisfied with his life. He befriends a much younger woman and begins listening to punk music in an attempt to make a change. But from that stereotypical beginning the movie crafts a much subtler story about the difficulty of changing one's life and the importance of forgiveness. The acting is excellent; lead actor Doug Jones' performance as Jerry is both restrained and full of feeling. As an added bonus, the soundtrack for the film is surprisingly good. The production value of the film is quite high, and it is beautifully shot.This is definitely a film worth watching: add this dvd to your collection as soon as it's released!

Great independent film. It’s a very real story of a man going through a mid life crises with some humor and confutation about a twenty something girl whether she is a friend or more.If you are a Warehouse 13 fan and are wanting to watch it because of Allison Scagliotti, her character plays a central role but she doesn’t have as much screen time as you would think but is still very good in it.

This movie was a disappointment. I thought it would be cute and sweet story but it was a bit plodding and developed SO SLOWLY. I kept waiting for something significant to happen, but was disappointed at the pace. Not a bad movie, just not entertaining to me.

I'm a huge Doug Jones fan but have never seen him outside of makeup or prosthetics so this was a gem to find. I love the indie feel of the film and the story itself I really enjoyed. Not sure there's much else to say but pick this movie up and give t a try!

Odd dramedy about a stuck in a rut middle-aged salesman who stumbles into the lives of a hip young female bartender and her friends, which gives him a new lease on life, improving his job prospects and his relationship with his similarly daughter.The trailer makes this look like more of a zany comedy than it actually is--there aren't really too many laughs. It's more of a wish fulfillment fantasy, although the potentially icky romance between Jerry and the young female bartender doesn't actually happen.Jerry does give oddball character actor Doug Jones a rare lead part and he is the movie's main asset, shifting from tired loser to middle-aged hipster believably while never resorting to easy comedy or pathos. The rest of the cast is solid, although the material is frequently hard to swallow, however well-acted it is.My Name is Jerry starts off like an American Beauty wannabe but turns out to be a surprisingly sweet dramedy about a miserable middle-aged salesman who gets a second chance. It's enjoyable enough to be worth a look but the cast is much better than the uneven and frequently unbelievable script.

This is an absolutely great movie! Doug Jones (along with all the other actors) are excellent. The movie is well shot, very professional. Hard to believe its an Indie film! Can't say enough things about My Name is Jerry. I'd recommend this movie to anyone!

Charming and entertaining; a very enjoyable indy film.

Now I can watch Doug Jones without monster makeup in glorious HD.