Nearly three years after its debut at Sundance, One has finally been allowed to briefly grace a few US movie screens, and if it comes to your town, I urge you to see it. It's a shining example of what American independent cinema is supposed to be about.
Artful, original, and unsentimental, One might be more appropriately titled Two, focusing as it does on the friendship of two lonely, ordinary San Francisco guys: Charlie (cowriter Jason Cairns, a ringer for a young Christopher Walken), who has just been released from prison and hopes to rebuild his life, and his only buddy Nick (Kane Picoy), a proud loser with a fresh mouth who still lives with his parents and fights with his regret over blowing his chance at being a major league baseball player.
One is an affecting character study told with grace, sensitivity, and style. It's not perfect, but it's clearly made with love. The supporting cast is wholly believable, and Barbieri is a clear-eyed director who has great respect for his audience. His second film The Magic of Marciano has been completed, but it too will probably face an uphill battle in getting seen. It's the curse of being an honest indie filmmaker, I suppose.