Jake’s Corner

An ex-football star who now runs a bar in rural Arizona (Richard Tyson) finds himself the temporary guardian of his young nephew (Colton Rodgers) when the boy’s parents are killed in an auto accident; the sudden surrogate-parenthood stirs painful memories, even as the boy’s presence affects the eccentric characters who work at and frequent the uncle’s bar. Writer-director Jeff Santo’s movie suffers from occasionally stiff acting and a meandering pace, but it suffers only slightly; performances (especially those of Tyson, and Sanel Budlimic as his Bosnian émigré bartender) more often carry a sense of still waters running deep, and the leisurely pace gives characters room to breathe and grow on us. Paul Sanchez’s sun-dried cinematography has the sparkling colors of a postcard from a roadside tourist shop.