Awhile ago there was a Facebook conversation among my homies about the most famous person to ever come out of Hemet, California. A few names were bandied about, like award winning Broadway stage designer Stan Meyer and Raquel Welch, who once had the title role in the Ramona Pageant. But since she didn’t actually ever live in Hemet, she doesn’t count. No, probably the biggest name to have lived in and left our lovely nestled valley would be James Lafferty of One Tree Hill fame, whose most recent release is the film Waffle Street, a simple, family friendly version of The Big Short, documenting a hedge-funder’s great fall and attempted redemption.

This is a humble, riches to rags tale, based on a true story, in which Lafferty plays Jimmy Adams, a bit of a financial geek who makes some questionable (but legal) investments, and is thrown to the wolves by his superiors. In an effort to get back down to earth with honest labor, he finds himself waiting tables at a Papa’s Chicken and Waffles. Danny Glover plays the veteran cook who doles out wisdom, and Julie Gonzalo plays his long suffering yet supportive wife. Personally, I would have left him when he sold his car and our house without consulting me–when I was pregnant.

If you think you know exactly where this is going, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. I can be wooed by a film that throws me a curve, especially in the end. That’s more than a lot of major studio productions can accomplish. This film has no major studio pretentious. It’s just a sweet story, nicely told, mostly in narration by Lafferty.

It’s always fun to see Lafferty on screen. After starring in and even directing several episodes of the CW’s One Tree Hill, he went on to helm recent episodes of E!’s Royals. He recently wrapped shooting a recurring role in WGN America’s upcoming Underground  and NBC’s conspiracy drama Crisis, where he starred alongside Gillian Anderson and Dermot Mulroney. In addition, he can be seen in the Relativity film Oculus. Lafferty’s other recent work includes a starring role alongside Jane Kaczmarek in the independent film Lost on Purpose, and the western feature The Legend of Hell’s Gate: An American Conspiracy, opposite Summer Glau. 

But I’ll always remember Lafferty as that tall kid in the shiny tux, taking my niece to the prom. (She is going to KILL me for bringing that up, so don’t tell her I did). You can see the all grown up version of Lafferty in Waffle Street, starting March 15, on Amazon, iTunes, Vimeo, Hulu, Vudu and xfinity.

Not Rated — but very family friendly

1 Hour 30 Minutes

 WAFFLE STREET Review — James Lafferty Stars in a Tale That’s Sweet But Not too Syrupy