Wuss

A Highly Customized Films production in colaboration with Minor in Possession and Femmewerks Prods. Created by Eric Steele, Barak Epstein, Adam Donaghey. Executive producer, Bala Shagrithaya. Directed, compiled by Clay Liford.With: Nate Rudin, Alicia Anthony, Ryan Anderson, Chris Gardner, Cody Johnson, Tony Hale, Alex Karpovsky, Sylvia Luedtke, Jennifer Sipes, Tamara Fana, Ashley Oliver, Johnny Mars.By frequently upending anticipation and shifting tones, author-director Clay Liford keeps his audience acutely intrigued and anxious throughout "Wuss," an remarkably crafted drama laced with darkly comic humor. After several stops across the fest circuit -- together with a showcase at Los Angeles' AFI Film Festival, where it won a crowd award -- this offbeat indie, in regards to a mousy senior high school teacher who's brutalized by delinquent students and mocked by most grown ups in the orbit, is able to graduate to limited theatrical release. But it'll need a knowledgeable distrib able to shouldering a troublesome marketing challenge. From the get-go, Liford represents Mitch Parker (Nate Rudin), a brief, slight fellow in the mid-20s, as somebody who likely suffered a nonstop barrage of bullying throughout his adolescent years. Regrettably, because the opening sequence at his high-school reunion quickly determines, things haven't transformed much for Mitch years after graduation: He's still in the same school, living aware of his less-than-affectionate mother (Sylvia Luedtke) and much more-than-threatening sister (Jennifer Sipes), and being suffering from students and staffers alike, despite the fact that he's now an British teacher. Mitch is really psychologically beaten-lower it may come as little surprise he does not hurry to make contact with government bodies when he's attacked with a student who does not respond well to discipline. Jamal (Ryan Anderson) is really an irredeemable brute, even their own mother (Ashley Oliver, within an attention-getting single-scene performance) thinks Mitch should drop a cent on him after he attacks the new teacher. However it is not until he will get some encouragement from Maddie (Alicia Anthony), among his best students, that Mitch starts to plot revenge. "Wuss" is extremely amusing in the broadly comical moments, specially when Mitch joins lengthy-time buddies (including some fellow instructors) for spirited Dungeons & Dragons games. Indie stalwart Alex Karpovsky ("Beeswax," "Small Furniture") will get some laughs being an strongly condescending vice principal who loves bothering Mitch. Even though Johnny Mars is much more than adequately menacing as Maddie's older brother, who just is surely a gun-runner, he's suddenly amusing when he discloses his avocation like a rare-books dealer. Underneath the funny business, however, a reasonable quantity of serious suspense percolates throughout "Wuss." As Mitch, Rudin affectingly plays a put-upon character whose humiliation and desperation assists in keeping the pic compelling. And newcomer Anthony beguilingly fires up various facets of an intricate, even contradictory character -- sometimes tearfully vulnerable, sometimes brazenly poised. The connection between Mitch and Maddie works out to become the life blood of "Wuss," triggering an ambiguous yet satisfying finale. Shot around Garland, a midsize Texas city near Dallas, "Wuss" boasts fine production values, climax likely some pop tunes around the soundtrack might be changed prior to the pic's theatrical release.Camera (color), Christopher Simpson editor, Jay Serra music, Curtis Heath production designer, Yen Tan art director, Ellen Weaver costume designer, Andie Day seem, Codi Putman connect producer, Farah Whitened assistant director, Angie Meyer casting, Eric Steele. Examined on DVD, Houston, November. 12, 2011. (In AFI, SXSW film festivals.) Running time: 96 MIN. Contact the range newsroom at news@variety.com