Amends of the Father (2024) Review

Short film is the ideal medium for telling stories of a personal nature, among other things. For example, if you’ve lived a life that you feel others would find interesting, then you get to tell your tale, hoping it resonates with the audience. Amends of the Father feels very much like a passion project, where writer/director Stephen Sorrentino gets to incorporate his music and music videos from the eighties, into a forty-five-minute short.

Amends of the Father is part critique of the excesses of yesteryears rock stars, and part critique of today’s social media culture, where fame at all costs is a commonplace problem. We also take a look at addiction and rehabilitation, albeit briefly.

Amends of the Father opens on retired rocker Tony K, walking through a bustling city, where he’s recognized by several people, letting us know that he’s relatively well known. Eventually Tony arrives at an AA meeting, and thanks to a quick shot of the coin he’s holding, we discover the aging musician has stayed sober for six months.

It is during this meeting that we learn of Tony’s anger issues, and his mercurial rage as he struggles to keep this dark side of him in check. Tony explains to the gathering that he wishes to make amends to those he wronged, but we’ll soon learn that the person he’s wronged the most is his son Brendan.

Tony K actually wants to be famous more than anything, and aside from having to avoid alcohol, everything else that goes along with fame he craves. After an interview that Tony gave starts generating lots of interest online, he now wants to demonstrate to everyone that he still has it.

This is where Tony turns to his old friend Andrew (Josh Philip Weinstein, American Hustle) a small club owner, but clearly there’s history between them, causing Andrew to be bitter. Tony wants to try to perform in the club, to demonstrate that he’s not just a has-been, although Andrew might have other ideas.

Tony’s son Brendan (Christopher Quartuccio, Teacher’s Pet) is a very famous singer now, however Tony abandoned Brendan when he was practically a baby. Will Brendan accept his father approach as he tries to rebuild bridges? Is Tony simply looking to advance his own interests? These questions are answered by the close of this thought-provoking film, leaving one to ponder what you’ve just witnessed.

For film made on a budget, Amends of the Father looks fantastic, thanks to some solid cinematography and tight editing. Sorrentino has gathered together a great cast who each act out their characters extremely well. In fact, the acting in this fine effort was a high point, followed by the storytelling.

At forty-five minutes, Amends of the Father felt too short, and if ever there was a short film crying out to be remade at feature-length, this is such a film. Each of the characters were interesting and what little we learned of them made us want more. Amends of the Father was surprisingly entertaining, and the music by Stephen Sorrentino himself, simply added to the experience. By the end of Amends of the Father I couldn’t believe a full forty-five minutes had passed, when it felt like fifteen. A must see.