Buck Run (DVD)

Director Nick Frangione draws on his childhood memories of growing up an outsider in rural Pennsylvania for this affecting drama. After the death of his mother, heartbroken 15-year-old Shaw (Nolan Lyons, Boardwalk Empire) must move in with his estranged father (veteran character actor James Le Gros), a conflicted alcoholic more concerned with hunting deer than raising a son. Shaw, already a bullied outcast at school, struggles to come to terms with his grief and his new life with an emotionally distant dad while wanting a traditional funeral for his mom something his father can't afford. Frangione's strengths in Buck Run are twofold: spot-on acting from his two leads and a perfect evocation of what it's like to live in conservative, rural America at this particular moment. In a world of swap meets and damaged souls, will this grieving teen find a place to fit in?