Stuck on the Corner of Hope: A Drama of Soured Dreams and Identity

Chris Guzzo’s Stuck on the Corner of Hope is a bleak romance drama written between Guzzo and Christopher Lafferty about a man who has set up camp in the gap between a forever elusive old love and the permanence of marriage. It is also about his failed ambitions, and in fact, the story is more about the gap between who Paul thought he was going to be and the courage it takes to become it.

Over the course of 38 minutes, we are introduced to Paul (Johnny Capuano) and his deep contempt for himself, originating in a lack of self-respect. It drives the plot forward even as it keeps him stuck in the past and in a creative and professional rut that grows more rancid with each passing day. Of course, the rage it engenders is easily misplaced and directed at his wife (Amanda Kristin Cox as Jackie), who failed to die of the terminal illness he had counted on when he impulsively proposed to her on the day she received her diagnosis.

The film attempts to show his perspective and adheres to it for its imagery. The style is largely unobtrusive, value neutral like Paul believes himself to be. A humble everyman, your standard issue good guy, in his bad moments—merely reacting to things outside his control—and delicate poet in privacy or praising company. That latter used to come from Amanda (Gabrielle Cody), someone he never got over. Even those flashbacks in black and white are clean, devoid of an overt mood.

Capuano and Cox pour their utmost into their characters. Capuano’s performance makes Paul every bit as spiteful as the writing intended, so much so that the occasional perspective shifts to Jackie come almost as respite. Cox exudes all of Jackie’s hapless, helpless, loving dependence on her husband at a deeply vulnerable time in her life. To be clear, neither character is likeable, though there is a hierarchy, but they are revealing. Paul, who hates, and Jackie, who loves, are both driven by a belief in their individual powerlessness, both believing themselves out of every other choice, and concluding that they are trying their best with the cards they have been dealt.

The climax converges and unravels multiple schemes, the summary of which really has to do with Paul discovering the zenith of his cowardice along with his artistry. Accordingly, the lighting becomes dramatic, all focused on Paul and his objective. As all his professional skills come into play, and the past and present collide in dangerous ways, both Paul and Jackie are forced to reckon with their assumed helplessness.

The title, Stuck on the Corner of Hope, succinctly illustrates its protagonist, who, believing in his essential goodness and exceptionalism, has driven himself into a corner built out of inaction, dishonesty, and delusion. Using this exceptionally authentic portrait of such a character, the film shows us little of genuine love, and quite a lot of what not to be.

Watch Stuck on the Corner of Hope Short Film Trailer