Standing Up, Falling Down
by Karen Pecota

Filmmaker Matt Ratner makes his directorial debut in the feature film STANDING UP, FALLING DOWN with screenwriter Peter Hoare tenderly blending comedy and pathos as two unlikely friends deal with regret.

Scott Rollins (Ben Schwartz) decides that he’s failed at trying to make it as a stand-up comedian after four long years in Los Angeles. His next steps as an unproductive 34-year-old are unclear, but he moves back into his parents’ home on Long Island. Depressed and feeling like a defeated warrior, he visits the local bar only to encounter the rude and obnoxious town drunk, Marty (Billy Crystal). Marty is not only the local inebriated man, he's comedic and a well-known dermatologist with possibly more regrets than Scott. The two newfound friends find a new lease on life as they decide to help each other face the failures that have caused them undue regret in order to change the course of their future.