''Carving a Life'' is a 2017 American

romance Romance (from Vulgar Latin , "in the Roman language", i.e., "Latin") may refer to: Common meanings * Romance (love), emotional attraction towards another person and the courtship behaviors undertaken to express the feelings * Romance languages, ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by Terry Ross and written by Lisa Bruhn. The film stars Tyler Bruhn and Karenssa LeGear.

Plot

Mitch (Tyler Bruhn), a woodworker struggling with alcoholism after the death of his mother, begins a relationship with Lauren (Karenssa LeGear), a local elementary schoolteacher. His past trauma and difficult relationship with his father strains his romantic relationship with Lauren.

Cast

*Tyler Bruhn as Mitch * Karenssa LeGear as Lauren *Aaron Landon Bornstein as Stephen *Lisa Winans as Rebecca *Sandi Todorovic as Eric *Jay Jee as Dr. Johnson *Laura Bohlin as Mary *

Navid Negahban Navid Negahban ( fa, نوید نگهبان; born June 2, 1968) is an Iranian-American actor. He has appeared on '' 24'', ''Homeland'', '' Mistresses'' and as Amahl Farouk / Shadow King in the second and third seasons of FX's ''Legion''. He has al ...

as Dr. Kasem *

Tiffany Espensen Tiffany Espensen (born February 10, 1999) is an American actress. She began her career as a child actress, before becoming known for her teenaged roles, such as Piper in the 2011 Nickelodeon series ''Bucket & Skinner's Epic Adventures'' and Beli ...

as Veronica *Lindsay Kaye Sainato as Lyndsey *Marla Bingham as Rehab Psychologist *Kathleen Holt as Nurse Mary *Max Baroudi as Young Mitch *Samuel James Pfoser as Young Eric *Kellen Rose as Kid at beach *Mark Benjamin as Ethan *Frank Papia as Gordon

Production

It was the debut film of director Terry Ross.

Principal photography Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production. Personnel Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...

took place in North County of San Diego, Anaheim and

Julian, California Julian is a census-designated place (CDP) in San Diego County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 1,502, down from 1,621 at the time of the 2000 census. Julian is an official California Historical Landmark (No. 412). The Jul ...

Release

The film was presented at the American Film Market. The film had a screening in

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, a limited theatrical release in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

and was distributed by

Indie Rights Indie Rights, Inc. is an American distributor of independent films, based in Los Angeles, California. Indie Rights is a subsidiary of Nelson Madison Films and was incorporated in 2007 to act as distributor for other independent filmmakers. The cor ...

Reception

The film received mixed to negative reviews from critics. Katie Walsh at ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' (abbreviated as ''LA Times'') is a daily newspaper that started publishing in Los Angeles in 1881. Based in the LA-adjacent suburb of El Segundo since 2018, it is the sixth-largest newspaper by circulation in the U ...

'' described it as well-intentioned but amateurish, calling it "the kind of DIY indie film that tries very, very hard but completely misses the mark." Adam Keller at '' Film Threat'' scored it 1 out of 5 stating it was "stream-of-consciousness mush." Chris Olson at ''UK Film Review'' scored it 4 stars calling it "genuinely moving ..tender and engaging." ''Occhi Magazine'' rated the film 3 stars and said it would've been better with an "expanded plot and more focus on the characters."

References

External links

* * * {{Authority control 2017 romantic drama films American romantic drama films Films shot in San Diego Films set in San Diego 2017 directorial debut films 2017 films Films about alcoholism Films about grief Films about father–son relationships Films directed by Terry Ross 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Films about educators