Life is hard, and yet we are all in it together. Movies like Thommy Kane and Bojan Vanovac New shoes tells the story of a young teenager forced to grow up too fast.
Tristan (Jacob Moran) desperately needs new shoes because the soles are slowly peeling off. Sitting on the front porch of his house, he waits for his mother, Elaine (Laura Whiteley), to finish up with her “boyfriend” for the day. When she’s done, she asks Tristan to help her with a strap so she can get her daily dose.
Later, tensions explode when Tristan tells Elaine he needs a new pair of shoes. The poor single mother starts screaming about everything she does for him and how good he is for nothing. Then, she reluctantly raises the money, the only way she knows as Tristan waits outside.
“…starts screaming about everything she does for him and how he is good-for-nothing.”
New shoes is fairly straightforward with its narrative, but its subject matter makes the twenty-minute short a tough watch (which is a compliment). Jacob Moran gives a stellar performance as Tristan. It nails the character arc of a young man, refusing to be a victim of his place in life and finding the courage to stand up for himself and find worth. However, the story, told from his perspective, wouldn’t work as well without Moran. As Elaine, Laura Whiteley creates this whirlwind of audience disdain and sympathy for a troubled mother caught in an endless cycle.
Tommy Kane and Bojan Vanovac New shoes is a solid story about the ability to rise above one’s station and find hope in the end. The co-directors also quite brilliantly grasp the weapon of emotional manipulation. The film has a raw grit and its filmmakers are willing to take narrative risks, which is precisely what I like to see in shorts.