Last Stop (2009)

Just one hour away from New York by car, in the state of New Jersey, is Toms River, a very particular community. Its inhabitants have many things in common, but above all their age: they are all over 55 years old. Condicio sine qua non to be able to buy one of these houses. In fact, it is impossible for families whose members are under 19 years of age to live in Toms River. There are no children in Toms River. Salvatore Sciascia, an Italian immigrant who arrived in America at the age of 16, coordinator in charge of surveillance, will be our Virgil to discover the protagonists of this generational niche: Muriel, the wise woman; Phil, the tough guy; Al and Annette, the lovers; and Tony, the poet. It will be through their stories that we will manage to open a window onto their world.These communities, in fact, offer their inhabitants truly advantageous conditions: the only thing sacrificed is generational exchange. Here the el derly pay fewer taxes, receive fewer services than average citizens (a prime example is schools, which they certainly don't need), and enjoy numerous small privileges that make their lives much simpler. They have extremely efficient health care services. Shopping? Child's play: twice a week there's a shuttle bus that takes anyone who wants to go to the nearest shopping center, and then brings them back home again with their shopping bags. Urologists, cardiologists, and every kind of specialist are just a few yards away, and ambulances are free of charge. There are a swimming pool for the summer, a church, a reading room, a dancing school teaching all different styles, like country dancing - one of the most popular; its dress code says women must wear old-fashioned wide-skirted flouncy dresses and men wear string ties and cowboy boots. And there are also well-equipped clubs of all kinds of interests, which permit any type of leisure time activity, from carpentr y, where people can make or restore their own furniture, to the gaming table for hours of bridge and pinochle tournaments. An interesting, thought-provoking welfare experiment.