St. Louis-native Aaron Coffman wrote “All Those Yesterdays” to be shot on weekends when his actors were in town and available. Shot on only $1,000, the film has a charming feel to it, but the 76-minute film is really only a 16-minute film in disguise.

“All Those Yesterdays” is more a slice-of-life piece than a narrative film. The loose skeleton of a plot focuses on a young man and a young woman as they meet for coffee two years after a brief affair. They recollect the evening and reflect on what their lives have become since their time together.

The film has a very Richard Linklater feel to it. Coffman, who attended the screening and hosted a brief Q&A after the film cited Michaelangelo Antonioni as his major influnce. That makes sense, given the dramatic use of locations and long takes.

St. Louis looks great in the film and the long takes were often very effective in letting the actors and act and letting the story tell itself.

The only problem is, “All Those Yesterdays” is just too long. It’s story does not effectively fill its brief running time. There is heart to the film, a genuine sense of loss, love and experience, but there is no energy to it, no rhythm. “All Those Yesterdays” needed an editor. I think Coffman was a little to close to the material and no one ever told him what about it was not working.

“All Those Yesterdays” carries all the marks of a young amateur film. You can feel how it was loved and laboured into existence. In a lot of ways, it is a film that only young people can make – a film that so vividly conveys the angst of 20-somethings and yet finds a delightful innocent hope among it all. The film just needed to be run through on a scene by scene, shot by shot level. Take it back to the drawing board. What is the premise?

1.5/5