Free Samples
USA, 2012, 80 Minute Running Time
Genre/Subjects: American Indie, Comedy, Drama
Programs: Reel Social Club, Special Presentation
Language: English
Actor Jason Ritter to receive the Reel Social Club's 1st Annual Indie Voice Award!
Director Jay Gammill’s debut feature tells the story of disaffected Jillian, a twentysomething law school dropout facing a quarter-life crisis. After a night of heavy drinking and complaining, she’s awakened by her best friend, who persuades the reluctant and hung-over Jillian to take her place handing out free samples to passersby from Mike’s Dream ice cream truck so that she can assist in her brother’s drug intervention.
Adrift in Los Angeles, Jillian discovers that her lack of talent makes her dream of pursuing the arts pointless. She surrounds herself with an oddball group of friends, who soften her angry edges. But when she learns her fiancé is having a baby with another woman, it just reinforces her feeling that life isn’t going as planned.
Jillian’s bad attitude comically permeates Free Samples, as she attacks would-be customers, a hazy cross-section of Angelenos. During the course of her day, she bribes a loud homeless woman to bring her a cup of coffee, an elderly diva (Tippi Hedren, in a brilliant cameo) stops to give her advice about various aspects of life, and a new beau named Tex (Jesse Eisenberg) offers her a shot at redemption. Our disgruntled heroine vacillates between cold and believably heartrending as she struggles to find her place in the world.
- REBECCA CARO
Sponsored by:
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DIRECTOR: Jay Gammill
Producer: Eben Kostbar, Joseph McKelheer
Editor: Franklin Peterson, Jay Gammill
Screenwriter: Jim Beggarly
Cinematographer: Reed Morano
Principal Cast: Jess Weixler, Jesse Eisenberg, Jason Ritter, Tippi Hedren
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