AllMovie

With their American indie drama Apart From That, tyronic directors Jennifer Shainin and Randy Walker interweave a trio of everyday tales concerning five characters, set against the backdrop of a Washington State small town. Walker and Shainin more or less devote equal time to each subplot, yet all provide fleeting glimpses of additional lives in the community and hints of the stories lingering behind visible façades. In the first thread, Ulla, a young hairdresser-in-training, rents a room from octogenarian Peggy (Alice Ellingson) who is saddled with an odd quirk: she habitually calls the volunteer firefighters to visit her, and strips in front of them. During her stay, Ulla eccentrically records sounds from the house as an informal keepsake of her time there. Meanwhile, Native American road worker Leo (Tony Cladoosby) struggles with grief over the untimely death of his best friend Calvin (Lawrence Cordier). And in a third substory, Vietnamese American Te, the manager of the small town bank, is forced to layoff marketing executive Lee (Gary Schoonveld) - alienating his own adopted son Kyle (Kyle Conyers), who is friends with Lee's biological son Tiffer (Joe Rose). Astonishingly (given the breadth of its content), the picture clocks in at a mere two hours. Shainin and Walker co-authored the original script, with a marked emphasis on finding the beauty and poetry in the everyday.