George B.

Running time: 100 mins

David Morse, best known as one of the young doctors on the 1980s television medical drama St. Elsewhere and most recently seen playing Jodie Foster's father in Contact, takes on a very different role in George B. You decide if George, an odd -job man for hire, is blessed with saintly patience and an overly positive outlook on life, or cursed with a slowness from too many head blows. The subtleties of Morse's performance provide plenty of room for interpretation. In either case, George is a man on his way up. His birthday has always been a lucky day for George, and his luck doesn't fail him during a trip to Reno. He returns with enough money to bankroll two of his three goals in life: paying the mortgage on a house he's perpetually repairing, and starting his own cleaning business. Life still isn't complete for George. He's tired of being lonely, but when he meets Angela (Nina Siemaszko), we're not sure if his luck really has changed. Even with this apparent luck, there's an ominous pall that hangs over George B. Writer/director Eric Lea does an incredible job of capturing an undercurrent of grasping hope and failed dreams. As an added bonus, Cinequest favorite Grace Zabriski appears in a brief but eerily oppressive roll as Angela's mother. --Jeffrey Vargas