Personal Foul Reviews

An independent production shot in the Midwest, PERSONAL FOUL looks at the relationship between three people. Jeremy (Adam Arkin, son of Alan) is a grade school teacher who loves to nurture students but abhors the bureaucratic activity that accompanies his job. He's pretty much a loner, but he does notice a new arrival, Lisa (Susan Wheeler Duff), a pretty, personable young woman to whom he is attracted. Ben (David Morse), an introverted drifter who lives in a van and sells handmade paper flowers, is befriended by Jeremy. While Lisa is attracted to Jeremy, she cannot cope with his emotional instability. And Ben is no more emotionally fit than Jeremy to handle a relationship. Producer-director-writer Ted Lichtenheld describes PERSONAL FOUL, his first feature, as a "film of cautious people who get involved despite their caution." While Lichtenheld takes a warm and honest look at three fragile people, the direction is unfortunately too "cautious" to reach the level of emotional intensity and involvement dictated by the subject matter.