Thursday night marked the screen debut of “A Name for Myself,” a solid effort by independent filmmaker and Blanchard junior Mike Miserendino

The film, written, directed and produced by Miserendino, was screened Thursday at Celebration! Cinema, 4935 E. Pickard Road.

The film tells the tale of two roommates, Jason Abernathy and Eli Dixon.

Eli never went to college but has a job at a local sandwich shop, while his roommate is a college graduate still in search for employment.

When a death in the family takes Jason out of town, Eli pretends to be his roommate when a company is willing to give Jason a job.

Jason tells Eli to stay out of his business and away from the company. Without telling Jason, Eli goes on the job interview, pretending to be Jason, and is hired for the position.
Despite
his lack of higher education, Eli is able to fool the company into thinking he is, in fact, Jason Abernathy.

With an interesting cast, most of whom are CMU students, the film does not fail to provide the typical college humor, even throwing in a “that’s what she said.”

Much of what brings humor to the movie is the familiarity of certain character types or emotions of the college age demographic.

Ryan, the intern, only has taken the internship because his mother forced him into it. He tries to get himself fired through his humorous outbursts of apathy and anger, but beneath all the angst is a college student who just loves to jazzercise.

One of the more intriguing aspects of the film is the question that is raises: Is a college degree a necessity for success?

There are some technical issues with “A Name for Myself,” such as a little too much lighting in some scenes causing over-exposure, but nothing unexpected for a lower budget film.

The movie was executed well, but there are some issues with content. The plot in “A Name for Myself” seems too mainstream for a college student creating an independent film.

The plot is reminiscent of “The Prince and the Pauper.” This type of story is not bad, but it has been done many times before.

Independent filmmakers should feel free enough to stand out before they sell their souls to Hollywood and create “safe” movies.

“A Name for Myself” is an exciting debut movie that shows promise for one of Central Michigan’s young filmmakers.

It is recommended to anyone who has never had the experience of a truly independent film.

Three stars out of five

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