Ham on Rye (film)

Ham on Rye is a 2019 US independent film directed by Tyler Taormina. The film stars an ensemble cast, including Aaron Schwartz, Lori Beth Denberg and Danny Tamberelli, where on the day of a local coming-of-age ceremony, a generation of teenagers stumble into the void of suburban idealism. The film premiered on February 8, 2019 at the Santa Barbara International Film Festival.

Plot
All of the teenagers in Haley’s hometown dress in their grandparents' best clothing on what is said to be the most important day of their lives. With nervous excitement, they make a scattered pilgrimage across town, drawn to an unknown fate. Haley walks at a more reluctant pace, skeptical of the timeworn tradition and the bizarre coming-of-age ritual that awaits them at their destination. When they finally arrive at Monty's, a local delicatessen, the clusters of local teens join together in a surreal ceremony of food, dance, and romantic angst that will determine the course of their lives forever. Many of the teens are granted instantaneous escape from the clutches of suburbia while an unchosen few are left to dwell interminably in their vacant hometown.

Cast

 * Hayley Bodell as Haley
 * Cole Devine as Sloan
 * Aaron Shwartz as Uno Bro
 * Lori Beth Denberg as Uno Queen
 * Danny Tamberelli as Uno King
 * Clayton Snyder as Stoned Uno
 * Dan Jablons as Mr. Monty
 * Audrey Boos as Gwen
 * Gabriella Herrera as Trish
 * Luke Darga as Tommy
 * Adam Torres as Marick
 * Blake Borders as Jim
 * Sam Hernandez as Artie
 * Gregory Falatek as Garth
 * Timothy Taylor as Bronco
 * Laura Wernette as Dorothy
 * David Yorr as Ollie

Production
The film was shot in about two weeks on a RED Scarlett X 4K camera. The film contains over 100 cast members and 60 locations.

Tyler Taormina says of the look and feel of the film:

"It was really important for us to evoke the 60s, the 70s, the 80s, and the 90s. We wanted them all to be compiled in this aesthetic that was sheer nostalgia."

Director of Photography, Carson Lund, describes the stylistic choices as such:

"... an eccentric middle ground between art cinema polish and the simplicity of Nickelodeon shows Tyler and I fondly recall from our youth."

Reception
Richard Brody of The New Yorker commented in his review that the film "has an aching tenderness of a rare power" and that it "has the uncanny echo of a disturbing real-life dream".

Caleb Hammond of MovieMaker Magazine called the film "Delightful" in his round up of Santa Barbara International Film Festival 2019.

Max Weiss of Baltimore Magazine describes the film as "Funny, unsettling".