'Don's Plum'
R.D. Robb, 1995



Coming-of-age teenage dialogue-fests are far from my cup of tea, so I was less than mildly looking forward to this watch. 'Don's Plum' is a low budget independent drama from 95-96' that centres around a Los Angeles diner. It includes early performances from the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio and Tobey Maguire, within a group that hangs out at said diner every Saturday night. It was later agreed by the entire cast and director that the film would be released outside the US and Canada only. Therefore it made its debut in 2001 at the Berlin Film Festival to mixed reviews.

Taking place in one location, the film inspires character study. An aspect it backs up with a few intriguing personalities. That said, they are nothing new and it is easy to spot the various default characters visible in most angst-athons. Some individual performances are hopeful considering the average age, and the fact much of the film was adlibbed simply helps this along. One problem I did have was that 'Don's Plum' is one third longer than it needs to be. The first hour or so was rather interesting to witness, given all the clichés. It did however break down however slightly in the last third, and pushed a little too firmly on the drama-handle as opposed to the chatty meandering one.

7/10 :fresh: