A decade in the making John Pollono’s jarring play is now a film. The actor/writer/director’s feature film debut is an honest emotional journey of one unique family’s handling of a tough set of choices. John was amazing enough to chat with Selig Film News about his film!

Frankie (John Pollono), Swaino (Jon Bernthal) and Packie (Shea Whigham) are lifelong friends who share a love of the Red Sox, rowdy bars and Frankie’s teenaged daughter Crystal (Ciara Bravo). But when Frankie invites his pals to a whiskey-fueled evening and asks them to do a favor on behalf of the brash young woman they all adore, events spin wildly out of control.

Small Engine Repair doesn’t have the greatest of titles for a film, but the raw impactful story is one of the year’s best. John Pollono’s tale of three friends reuniting for an evening like no other is an amazing mixture of humor, sorrow and deep friendship. Jon Bernthal and Shea Whigham own their characters as they perfectly showcase the manly bravado of old friends who would literally do anything for their buddy Frankie and his daughter Crystal.

John and I talked about the journey of the award-winning play becoming a fully realized film just as the pandemic was about to hit. We discussed the impact of expanding the female characters and finding talent like Ciara Bravo (Crystal) and Jordana Spiro (Karen) and how their performances raised the entire film’s scope.

Small Engine Repair is one of the year’s real diamonds, especially once you polish the tough grime off the surface.

Here’s my chat with Writer/Director/Actor John Pollono.