Eric Steel Movies

A teacher at the mercy of his students turns the tables with the help of fellow misfit in this comedy-drama from writer and director Clay Liford. Mitch (Nate Rubin) is a substitute teacher who has landed a temporary full-time assignment at the high school where he studied years ago. Mitch is a stereotypical nerd who still lives with his mom, still plays Dungeons & Dragons with his high school buddies, doesn't have a girlfriend and is stuck in a life that's going nowhere. Mitch's fellow faculty members have nicknamed him "Mitch the Bitch," and one of his students, Re-Up (Ryan Anderson) has made it clear he doesn't like or respect Mitch -- so much so that he and a handful of fellow students beat Mitch to a pulp after school. Enter Maddie (Alicia Anthony), a student who isn't well liked by her peers, but no one will mess with her since her brother has a menacing criminal reputation. Maddie decides she doesn't like the way Mitch is being treated and offers to help him even the scales at school. Mitch is certainly grateful, buy he also finds himself moving into a relationship with Maddie that's dangerous on many levels. Wuss received its world premiere at the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Inspired by a New Yorker story, "Jumpers," written by Tad Friend, director Eric Steel decided to train cameras on the Golden Gate Bridge over the course of 2004 to capture the people who attempted to leap off the famed structure, the site of more suicides than anywhere else in the world. He also tracked down and interviewed the friends, family members, and eyewitnesses to further recreate the events leading up to the incident and to try to explain what led these people to want to kill themselves, especially at this specific site. The documentary's primary subjects all struggled with mental illness, including severe depression, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorders, and the documentary struggles to understand their illness while illuminating the anger and hurt of their loved ones. Most questions remain unanswered, turning on the darker recesses of the mind. The shots of the bridge wreathed in fog turn the Golden Gate into a metaphor for a bridge between life and death, sanity and mental disturbance, and extreme isolation and connection with society. Though the camera crew worked with a set of guidelines, including that they would call in someone they thought was going to jump, the documentary still includes lengthy footage of the moments leading up to and including the suicides, so discretion is advised for sensitive viewers. ~ Michael Buening, Rovi