#FareLife gives us a peak inside the lives of Connecticut strangers from all walks of life as they ride from place to place with everyone’s favorite FareRide driver, affectionately called “buddy”. From drag queens to estranged parents to drunk strangers, follow “buddy’s” adventures as he navigates the streets and the pitfalls of living, in this zany, touching and often times irreverent ride of a lifetime.
Project Links
Review by Victoria Angelique:
Life can be unexpected, especially for a ride-share driver like Buddy in #FARELIFE. The story starts out like a typical narrative, Buddy is unhappy with his life and is living in his sister’s basement and decides he needs to make a change to improve his circumstances. His sister wants to help, though she has a vastly different idea of what her brother needs. Buddy wants a job to earn his own way out of her home, she wants him to find a romantic partner so that he can find someone to spend his life with to be happy.
The solution comes with the ride-share job that Buddy’s sister teases him for taking as she sets up his dating profile before clients. She seems like she is well intentioned, though her brother isn’t so sure about the prospects he will find on an online dating platform for gay men in his area. He is old fashioned and would rather meet someone the traditional way, in person, to form a connection.
The unexpected happens through his first night driving clients when he meets a drag queen named Hannah. The conversation is awkward as Buddy learns the first rule of driving in this new job, learning the importance of body language. The attempt to break the ice causes Hannah to snap, resulting in a few moments of silence before she offers an apology to Buddy. The rest of the night ends up establishing rules for individuals that want to join ride-share jobs as the story goes from funny to somber. It picks back up at the end as Buddy picks up his final ride, Hannah.
Buddy’s sister might have wanted him to try online dating, but he proved that his way is what worked best for him. He met someone on the job she teased him about, a person that put a spark into his head about moving cities where even if they don’t work out, there would still be more romantic options that wouldn’t involve online dating. The film depicts that there are times that people feel like they are stuck, but in reality the door sometimes opens and a person can come in that will change someone’s life by a few simple words.
Festival Reviews 