Philadelphia Film Festival 2010

Previously known for scripting the edgy British soccer-romp Green Street Hooligans, co-writer/director Josh Shelov directs Neil Patrick Harris, one of today’s most beloved comedic performers of the small screen, in a hilarious farce about yuppie inclinations to be among the elite…via selecting a prestigious kindergarten for their unknowing five-year-olds. Bonnie Somerville is dead-on as earnest young mother Samantha, who gives her dreams one last chance, while Harris proves the perfect choice for tense and unsure Jeff. Self-conscious about their new lifestyle and tied up in the insecurity over their daughter’s schooling, we laugh uneasily at Jeff and Samantha’s effortless unraveling. Perhaps some dreams are best left unpursued. Shot partially in our very own Philadelphia, this film does a tremendous job capturing the enchantment and pressure of East Coast city life. The brown stones of their upper echelon neighborhood woo Jeff and Samantha, as well as the audience, before falling prey to the less becoming lives lead within the attractive community. The supporting cast includes a talented pedigree of favorite character actors from Amy Sedaris (Elf, TV’s Strangers with Candy), Bridget Regan (Sex and the City The Movie, TV’s Legend of the Seeker), and Peter Serafinowicz (Couple’s Retreat, Shaun of the Dead). Delightful and honest, Shelov adroitly nourishes the script’s charm to deliver enormous laughs.