THERE WAS ONE FAMILY THAT LIVED on the block who had a Dad that was of great interest to the kids in the neighborhood. On the outside he looked like the other dads; he drove to work everyday at the same time most of the other adults were leaving their homes for work. He told corny jokes to his children’s friends and he barbequed in the backyard. But what was of most interest to us kids was this man’s profession. Rumor had it he worked for the government, some type of secret agency. I cannot recall when the rumors started but I was extremely curious about him, hoping he was some kind of spy.  Now there were other parents in the neighborhood who had jobs that sounded interesting to us kids. There was a parent who owned a restaurant somewhere down in the heart of the city; another parent was an artist who would use photographs as a base to create small and large oil paintings for customers. But there was something about this one Dad that kept most of us kids engaged in trying to figure out what he really did for a living. We would get together at times to try and piece together any clues one of us might have seen or heard throughout our day. At one point we decided he must be a double agent because someone heard him speak in a different language. After several years that father and his family sold their house and moved away; none of us ever found out if he was a spy?      HAVING A PARENT WHO HAD A COOL or interesting job was a big plus when growing up. There was one kid whose father was a city bus driver. Any time he was the driver of the bus I was taking, I felt special; as if I had something no one else on the bus could claim. I know one of the reasons I felt this way was because I did not have to worry about someone picking on me; I knew I had a protector during my trip. Out of the parents’ jobs I knew, this one meant the most to me because it was something I could see and feel he was doing something for me, namely protecting me from bullies. There were other parents who had interesting jobs and maybe their occupations meant something special to other kids, but outside of the one dad we all thought was a spy, the bus driver was my favorite. I am sure if the parents in this documentary lived in my neighborhood, all the kids would want to know what they did for a living.      WHENEVER THE CHILDREN OF KAREN AND BARRY Mason accompanied them to work, they never understood why they were told to never look up, to look straight down at the floor. Written by Kathryn Robson (Parrots Heads, Rip Rip Hooray!) and written and directed by Rachel Mason (The Lives of Hamilton Fish, Singularity Song), this film festival winner provided me with a fascinating movie watching experience. This was due to the different elements that made up the script. There were several different aspects to the story such as historical, generational and family. I immediately found Karen and Barry likeable as they talked about how they got into their line of work by happenstance. With interviews coming from a variety of sources such as Larry Flynt of Hustler magazine and former employee Alaska from RuPaul’s Drag Race, seeing the family dynamics in the mix of this was wild. I also appreciated the message about acceptance, love and providing for one’s family. All that was missing from this biographical movie was getting interviews from some of the neighbors and kids’ friends. After finishing this picture I did wonder how this family would have fared living on my block.

3 ¼ stars