In 2002, Rik Swartzwelder released an incredible short film called The Least of These which was based on Tony Campolo’s Agnes story. It was amazing, a powerful little movie bulging with classic lines like, “The kind of church which throws birthday parties for whores at 2 o’clock in the morning,” “Someone has to cut the cake” and “…there’s no such thing, it doesn’t exist.” Thirteen years later he’s back writing, directing and starring in a love story called, Old Fashioned, which will open on Valentine’s Day and about which the IMDB description says “A former frat boy and a free-spirited woman together attempt the impossible: an ‘old-fashioned’ courtship in contemporary America.”
Win or lose, if Swartzwelder is able to expand upon the storytelling gifts he showed all those years ago in The Least of These, then I’m sure Old Fashioned will be beautiful, intense and memorable.
