CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR – Short Film Review

CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR is a 10-minute short film from writer, director and producer Sharon Wright, which played the AOF International FilmFest in July 2010. I have to confess, I had intended to get to this film much earlier, but I am glad I did see this little gem and encourage anyone of any age to see it, given the opportunity.

Wright’s film packs an emotional punch, without being sappy or overly melodramatic. Structured more like a music video than a traditional narrative film, CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR has no dialogue and really doesn’t need any. The beautiful orchestral score by Christopher Komstoeft, along with the down-to-Earth acting tells the story of a homeless man (played by Robert P. Campbell) who chooses to make a difference in several people’s lives with only a dollar.

As the audience, we travel with the homeless man on this short journey, witnessing the affect a small gesture can have on a person in need. He finds great pleasure in offering what little he has to others, and with these good deeds he finds that karma (or whatever one should choose to call it) remembers these actions. Wright weaves an intertwining story of multiple fates, giving us only glimpses of the lives involved, but these glimpses are all we need to feel the heart put into creating this film.

CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR benefits greatly from the smooth and seamless editing and the warm, gorgeous cinematography by by Kendall Sinn, as well as from Sharon Wright’s accomplished directing and vision. The overwhelming impression is that the characters in this film are regular, everyday folks, real people, whom could be any one of us and that these very same sentiments could play out just the same in anyone’s lives. It’s not about how much you give or do, but whether you choose to make a difference at all. CHANGE FOR A DOLLAR is an extraordinarily touching introduction and/or reminder to this extremely important, but often forgotten concept of life and being human.

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars