The Garage

W-D: Carl Thibault; with Gabriel Marantz, Corby Griesenbeck, Xander Berkeley, Tania Raymonde

Taking multiple reins, writer/producer/director Thibault doesn’t break the coming-of-age mold but instead fills it out adeptly. Centered on a family-owned automotive shop in the late Seventies, The Garage‘s professional production values don’t seem long for the festival circuit. Age comes to Matt (Marantz, who handles the role admirably) in the form of tough decisions: family vs. friends, responsibility vs. freedom, etc. Shot locally in and around Austin – note the consistently up-and-coming local Rusty Kelley as Matt’s younger brother and a walk-on by Dale Watson – The Garage touches all of the awkward-age-and-tough-decisions bases without lingering in clichés. There’s a love interest (Raymonde), a friend in need (Griesenbeck), a well-meaning and hard-drinking father (Berkeley), and a strong, adolescent desire to spread one’s wings. Certainly not the edgiest film in the festival but one with distribution written all over it. – James Renovitch

10/21, 4:15pm, Arbor; 10/23, 7pm,

This article appears in October 20 • 2006.

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James graduated from Columbia University in 2000 and moved to Austin a year later. Ever since, he has followed the arts and video game scene in ATX, editing and writing stories for the Chronicle along the way. Over his more than 20 years with the paper he has climbed the "corporate" ladder from lowly intern to managing editor.