Shelf Life (film)

Shelf Life
Shelf Life
Directed by	Paul Bartel
Written by	O-Lan Jones; Andrea Stein; Jim Turner;
Produced by	Anne Kimmel; Bradley Laven;
Starring	O-Lan Jones; Andrea Stein; Jim Turner;
Cinematography	Philip Holahan
Edited by	Judd H. Maslansky
Music by	Andy Paley
Distributed by	Northern Arts
Release date	February 1993 (Palm Springs Film Festival);
Running time	81 min.
Country	United States
Language	English

Shelf Life is a 1993 American comedy-drama film directed by Paul Bartel. The final film Bartel directed before he died in 2000, it stars O-Lan Jones, Andrea Stein, and Jim Turner.^[1]

Plot

Following the assassination of John F. Kennedy in 1963, a Californian family head to their nuclear bunker. The film returns thirty years later and 40 feet underground with a typical day for the children, Tina, Pam and Scotty, still in the bunker, together with their now dead parents.

Cast

O-Lan Jones as Tina
Andrea Stein as Pam / Mrs. St. Cloud
Jim Turner as Scotty / Mr. St. Cloud
Paul Bartel as Various Apparitions
Justin Houchin as Young Scotty
Shelby Lindley as Young Pam
Jazz Britany as Young Tina

Production

The film originated as a stage show, written and performed by Jones, Stein and Turner.^[2] Bartel saw the show at the Lex Theater in Hollywood and the film went into production six weeks after the show ended. The film was shot on a very low budget.^[3]

The film is dedicated "For the Garys" in reference to the founders of Filmex who died in 1992.^[2]

Release

A work-in-progress was screened at the Palm Springs Film Festival in January 1993.^[2] The film was rejected by the Toronto Film Festival and Sundance Film Festival.^[3]

Reception

Todd McCarthy of Variety called it a "microcosmic commentary on vaunted family values and media generation" and that it "features some of the best direction in any of [Bartel]'s films".^[2]