Joey Alto (Jason Godbey) is a low-level bag man for mob boss Jimmy "The Squirrel" Moriano (Kristian Leavy). One day, Joey picks up his usual load but, with mega balls intact, Joey decides to keep the loot. When Jimmy gets wind of Joey's idea, Joey's seemingly great idea turns into one helluva bad day.

Having premiered at the Coney Island Film Festival in October 2009, Small Time was the second film from the folks at Behind the Rabbit Productions, a growing production company led by this film's writer/director and star Jason Godbey. The film is a fairly straightforward mobster caricature with a few laughs along the way, mostly courtesy of Godbey's larger than life performance. The film is practically the definition of a competently made indie short, neither the type of film that I would turn away from at a film festival nor the kind of film that would necessarily hold my attention.

At just under seven minutes, Small Time is edited tightly and moves briskly enough with no tech nor pacing issues to speak of throughout its running time.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic