THE STORY – Mags, a drama lecturer with a steady job, a kid to raise, and her dreams of artistic greatness on the back burner, has her life upended when her charmingly unpredictable younger brother Merritt shows up out of nowhere and signs up for her acting class.
THE CAST – Heather Kafka, Justin Arnold, Macon Blair, Sara Paxton & Aaliyah Tardio
THE TEAM – Bryan Payser (Director/Writer)
THE RUNNING TIME – 102 Minutes
Stories of failed dreams and second chances have been a narrative staple in the world of indie dramas since the invention of the form, with filmmakers from around the world creating their own variations on the genre. With his latest film, “Leads,” it’s writer/director Bryan Payser’s turn, and he offers an appealing twist that mixes a sibling rivalry with a meta commentary on the intoxicating lure of stardom.
Mags (Heather Kafka) is a middle-aged single mom trying to make ends meet as an untenured lecturer and acting teacher at a local state college. While she loves teaching, even she finds that she has to stifle a yawn now and then at her students’ thespian efforts. (A great running joke is that most of her male students are named Justin.) Mags is much more comfortable helping students shape their dreams one-on-one in their her office, where a large movie poster hangs on the wall. When one student inquires about it, she explains it is for a film titled “Sunspots” in which she starred over a decade ago, the memory of which briefly chokes her up.
As well it should. Upon its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival, “Sunspots” was a sensation, as Mags and the film’s director Taylor Betts (Macon Blair) quickly becoming the toast of Park City with critics predicting long and successful film careers for them both. It happened for Taylor — he went on to create and direct a financially successful schlock horror franchise. But despite still maintaining a strong friendship with Mags over the years, he never cast her in anything again. Mags’ moment of stardom had passed and soon she found herself stifled, living paycheck to paycheck and facing a room every day filled with Justins.
Anxious to solidify her place at the college, Mags has arranged for Taylor to visit the school and lead a discussion about acting and directing. This visit is all-important for Mags, both professionally and personally, and her days are consumed with making sure the event goes right. She is at her most stressed point when a knock at the door reveals her roustabout younger brother Merritt (Justin Arnold) who arrives unannounced and asks to stay with her for a week.
It is at this moment that “Leads” really begins to click, thanks largely to the chemistry between the two actors. Kafka and Arnold (who co-wrote the story, along with Payser) know their characters well, and despite their physical differences, they are thoroughly convincing as siblings who know each other’s emotional weaknesses and just what buttons to push. When Merritt tries to spin a tale as to why his left arm is in a sling, Mags smells the bullshit at once and begins to wonder is that has something to do with why he has shown up so suddenly on her doorstep.
Merritt endeavors to earn his keep by taking care of Mags’ daughter Jo and even offers to run lines with his sister for her upcoming audition. But when he gets it in his head that acting might be “fun” to learn, Mags is horrified to see that she has enrolled in her acting class, and before long, his down-home charm has bent her students to his will, a prospect that could lead, she fears, to the end of her career.
Like any wise indie director, Poyser emphasizes character over plot, and he’s fortunate to have two actors as skilled as this pair to tackle characters as complicated as these. As Merritt, Arnold knows that his character’s guitar-swinging cowboy charm is just a facade that’s useful to seduce anyone into giving him what he wants. But the mask finally does drop, and he confronts Mags over her abandonment of the family to pursue her dreams of stardom, leaving a pre-teen Merritt alone at the hands of their fearsome father. Every ounce of resentment that has built up over the years can be seen on Arnold’s expressive face, and he nails it.
But the film would not have worked as well as it does without Kafka’s heartbreaking turn as Mags. Still haunted by the stardom that almost was and the decade-long resentment of Taylor for keeping it from happening, there’s a relatable weariness to Mags that Kafka manages to capture so effortlessly. Her abject terror at the thought of having her near-seduction of one of her students coming to light gives the film a tension in its final act that effectively ups the emotional stakes. It’s Kafka’s skill at keeping that tension taut is what makes that scene crackle.
In “Leads,” Payser displays one of the rarest skills that a young indie director can have: he is confident enough to pause and let his characters breathe. By doing so, we come to know Mags and Merritt in their full complexity, which is the source of the singular strength of this smart, perceptive film.
