All Over Again is a 2018 short film about Gregory, an aging guitarist who re-discovers his passion in music and finds the courage to play again.
The most significant takeaway of nearly any short film is its ability to invite you into a moment, no matter how brief, and hopefully have you consider some deeper meaning, its limitations a source of ambiguity that forces the viewer to consider its impact. It’s often rather remarkable what can be done and said in such brevity, where even those less than a few minutes long can have you reeling.
Writer/director Joseph McGovern‘s All Over Again is 16-minute story about an older man named Gregory (Joseph Fuoco), who is considering a return to a passion he long ago put aside, playing the guitar and singing. Most evenings, he sits at the local open mic club, the Bus Stop Music Cafe, and watches poetry readings, trumpet players, singers and more, snapping fingers with the others but never participating. Meanwhile, we learn that he’s got an adoring wife (Constance Reshey) and a grown son (Mahdi Shaji), and discover that it was his dedication to them both that made him lay down his dreams. Now, as he secretly writes a new song, he considers taking to the stage one more time.
Made on a shoestring budget and shot in actual locations, All Over Again is a simple story that doesn’t come packed with many surprises, the message plain and clear. While it’s got a touching story, its limitations leave it a little underwhelming, with audio issues and a runtime that could have easily been cut in half as we take to watching others each night perform, all meant to be inspiration for Greg. These secondary characters are a host of mostly untrained actors and admittedly, this clunky acting sort of fits with their characters, however, its also creates a degree of distraction for the viewer who is far more interested in Greg than what he is watching on stage.
The core story is a series of flashbacks as we witness memories of Greg as a young man falling in love, offering a bit of history that helps to give some weight to his ambitions. With that in play, the film would have benefited greatly by devoting less time spent at the Cafe and more on developing Greg’s long ago dreams, making his choices all the more impactful.
That said, I appreciate McGovern’s efforts and enjoyed a bit of the strumming guitar music and especially Fuoco’s authentic performance, which stands out among a cast of frankly wooden and stiff line readings that don’t always feel convincing. Certainly, it all feels good in the end, however, even with a positive message, this could have used another run in editing.
All Over Again is currently touring festivals.