Movie Review: ‘A Year And Change’ & Watch Exclusive Clip (NSFW)

Review by Tom Swift

A zombie dude falls off a roof and stumbles his way into being a standup guy.

Owen’s on a lifestyle treadmill that he doesn’t quite want to escape; so much as he wants to feel like someone who matters. He’s going through the motions, lurching towards some sort of disaster. Good looking but over thirty, he’s not the hot guy anymore in his small Maryland town. He owns a bunch of vending machines that turn up enough cash to allow him a comfortable life in a big, well decorated house. The problem is that the place is empty – as is Owen’s heart.

Divorced with one estranged almost teenaged son and drunk too often: that’s Owen. You get the picture, and so does Owen. He’s on the way to being a loser with a comfortable lifestyle he can’t escape. He’s up on the roof of a New Year’s party because, well, the party is a lot of “been there, done that.” Reaching for a beer bottle that’s fallen into the roof’s gutter, Owen breaks his arm by following the bottle to the ground. He sits alone in the Emergency Ward – because no one wanted to give up a good time for poor Owen.

He’s been missing play dates with his son. His ex is thinking about moving to San Diego. The neighbor across the street dies and no one really seems to care. Seeing himself in that guy, Owen figures it’s time to grow up. He picks up his hacker brother from prison and takes in the quadriplegic son of the dead guy. Soon the three of them are making the vending machine rounds, and Owen slowly grows into the idea of forming a new family. He becomes the coach of his son’s little league team.

Then his best friend becomes a suspect in an underage girl’s drinking induced coma. Owen’s new girlfriend prods him into being a better boyfriend. The hacker brother forces a confrontation over a possible statutory rape charge. Thereby facing his own lack of responsibility, Owen thereby becomes a standup guy.

This well-made movie makes the case that family, of whatever kind, matters. No fireworks, no gun battles, no end of the world of fantasies. Just a regular guy becoming a good guy. When’s the last time you saw a movie about that?

In North America on DVD and VOD November 24th.