NOSEY PARKER

This is an incredibly charming little film playing at the Coolidge's screening room. Natalie, a 30-ish woman and her much older psychiatrist husband move from suburban CT to the small town of Tunbridge, VT. They've remodeled an old barn into a McMansion, much to the consternation and curiosity of most of the townsfolk. Eventually, Natalie befriends one of them, George, an elderly farmer whom she hires as a handyman.

Nosey Parker is decidedly a homegrown effort, as director and Tunbridge resident John O'Brien worked with a cast made up of actual Tunbridge denizens. The script is mostly improvised, and you get a sense that these people are more or less playing themselves. And it works beautifully--you walk away sensing what you've just seen can't be faked (although it is technically fiction), and the "acting" rarely seems clunky or off (although I didn't care much for Natalie's somewhat creepy husband). The star is undoubtedly George Lyford (who passed away after filming). By way of his engaging personality and genuineness, you can see why anyone would want to befriend him.