Finn Wittrock, who is a Julliard graduate and has done a lot of theater, played a psychotic clown on “American Horror Story” in 2014-2016, but in this movie he is a bad boy who doesn’t want to go straight. He gets girlfriend Ruth into a lot of trouble when they are boyfriend/girlfriend as minors. (“Four convictions in one year as a minor?” says her employer at the chi chi school where she has been hired as Admissions Counselor, played by Scott Cohen as Guy Brinckerhoff.)
Ruth is really trying hard to get her act together and work an honest job. When Jonny shows up again in her life, it is not initially good news to her. She is new at the Luscinia School, an exclusive elementary school for little rich girls that also tries to include at least some more underprivileged children, but, at $35,000 a year, it’s a stretch for anyone who isn’t making big bucks.
Jonny is shown hanging with his old crowd, including Sticker (Andrew Schulz, of 2015’s “Sneaky Pete”). Sticker, whose character name is Mitchell Mullen Vega, has a real job as a doorman and is married to one of New York’s finest—an African American policewomen—and they have a darling little girl who could never afford to attend this pricey school.
However, Jonny, who always is working an angle, applies for the Vegas 4-year-old saying, “I don’t want her to waste her whole life having to prove she’s good enough.” At a Meet the Parents event that Ruth is in charge of, Jonny strolls in and befriends troubled Mom Nan Noble (Emily Mortimer, MacKenzie McHale from “The Newsroom” TV show).
Ms. Noble’s husband, Steve (James Ransome) has some Big Problems that have arisen from his work as an investment counselor; Nan is considering taking some of her jewelry and cash and stashing it, in case the Feds come calling in a Bernie Madoff fashion. She is warned, “Any attempts to hide your own assets will be discovered and you will go to jail.” But Jonny, who is posing as a parent checking out the school, is so sympathetic and handsome that perhaps he can help her?
This script had a very nice “twist” ending that I won’t reveal, for fear of ruining it for the audience. It was a true gem among some very bad endings of other films I saw during SXSW, and the entire film reflected Stacy Cochran’s New York sensibilities (and her position as the mother of three children). If you get a chance, see it.
Write When You Get Work, written and directed by Stacy Cochran, opens with a hot love scene at the beach between Finn Wittrock as Jonny Collins and Rachel Keller as Ruth Duffy. It is 9 years earlier, and the pair are deeply in love. The chemistry between the two leads rolls off them like white smoke.
