Directed by: Joe Burke
Written by: Joe Burke and Oliver Cooper
Starring: Burton Berger, Oliver Cooper, Steven Levy, and Catlin Adams
Runtime: 78 minutes
‘Burt’ is a small, offbeat story that beats with a big heart
“Freedom! Freedom!”
The opening of director/co-writer Joe Burke’s “Burt” features the title character (Burton (or Burt) Berger). Burke and cinematographer Daniel Kenji Levin closely capture Burt’s hands playing catchy chords on his acoustic guitar, and then the camera focuses on this 69-year-old’s slender face – along with his supporting glasses and curly hair - as he belts out a Dylanesque tune and exclaims, “I’ve got freedom!”
The song seems autobiographical, and in many ways, “Burt” is.
Burke and co-writer/co-star Oliver Cooper have known Berger for years.
As Burke explains in a January 2026 YouTube interview with Manny The Movie Guy, “I’m a narrative filmmaker, so I wanted to make a ‘movie’ movie, a narrative film, but I wanted to still kind of honor Burt as if it was a (documentary).”
In the movie, Burt, a singer/songwriter and bachelor living in his golden years, has maintained his independence from commitments for almost seven decades.
Today, however, his worldview suddenly flips and spins upside down when a bit unkempt 30-something fella, Sammy (Cooper), steps up to this sexagenarian after a performance at a local Los Angeles eatery and blurts out that they are related.
Sammy is Burt’s son!
Of course, our lead has questions, but Sammy is the product of a brief affair from long ago. Rather than dismiss this revelation, Burt embraces the news and Sammy with open arms. So much so that he invites his newly discovered kin to his home and even tucks him in that evening with awkward, comedic results.
Still, Sammy carries a problematic secret, one that he reveals to the movie audience, but not to his father, and this 78-minute indie centers around the angst and anticipation of this good-hearted soul discovering what we realize during the first act.
Burke’s dramedy – filmed in black and white – leans into drama more than comedy, but what “Burt” lacks in belly laughs, it wonderfully swims in endearment from Berger in his first starring movie role.
From the film’s opening minute, Berger is an irresistible personality. He’s forthright, personable, and a complete open book. Approaching 70 and coping with Parkinson’s disease, the years behind Burt outnumber the ones ahead.
He doesn’t live in regret, even though monetary success and raising a family did not cross his orbit.
Despite frequently “running against the wind,” Burt is an ever-present, optimistic force.
He wants everyone to enjoy his music, but record companies (if they are still a thing in 2026) aren’t knocking down his door. However, he hasn’t given up yet.
For instance, regarding dreams, he opines, “Don’t let anything stop you.”
With resonant belief, Burt quips, “Things will work out,” even though they really haven’t for our hero.
He lives with a cantankerous, insufferable roommate, Steve (Steven Levy), who seems to be Burt’s complete opposite except that they are both not involved in active relationships.
Steve is a know-it-all busybody and is hypersensitive about his personal space and possessions. He is a constant source of low-grade torment for anyone who disrupts his routines, and his primary cause for concern is Sammy.
Steve trusts him less than a crosswalk on The Autobahn.
Furthermore, Steve rushes to offend Sammy, which instigates conflict with Burt, and Burke and Cooper use this dynamic between the roommates to further validate Burt’s altruism and convictions.
Admittedly, the on-screen time with Steve isn’t terribly amusing, but these precious minutes lift audience empathy for Burt even higher, while we simultaneously wonder when he will learn about Sammy’s hidden revelation.
Amazingly, Burt and Steve are real-life roommates, and while this odd couple performs nicely in their first big-screen flick, the heavy lifting relies on Cooper, a busy TV and film actor since 2011.
Cooper’s Sammy is the singular fulcrum that disrupts Burt’s (and Steve’s) ongoing existence, and he successfully conveys the trickiest emotive journey.
Certainly, Burt is the heart of Burke’s movie, but Oliver is the convincing thespian workhorse who clears a path for Berger to land into the story’s impactful emotional moments.
“Burt” is a small, offbeat story that beats with a big heart and sings with Burt’s decrees of optimism…and freedom.
Jeff’s ranking
2.5 / 4 stars
