Just a guess, but I bet a survey of Baltimoreans would suggest that the vast majority of us consider “Baltimoron” a derogatory term. It’s a blend of Baltimore and moron, after all, so it figures that most homers would find it offensive, a slur that civilized people avoid.But here’s another g uess: That, when the term “Baltimorean” long ago met the Bawlmer accent for the first time, out came “Baltimoron,” and that’s what stuck, making the formal term for a Baltimore resident sound to some like an insult.As I say, it’s just a guess. I wasn’t around when the original residents of the Queen City of the Patapsco Drainage Basin were told they were Baltimoreans and had to pronounce it.Whatever its origin, lexicographers have decided that Baltimoron is derogatory, and various slang dictionaries list it as such. But here’s another but: I’ve also heard it used affectionately, in the we-kid-because-we-love category of expression, as in: “He’s a real Baltimoron” — that is, a person hopelessly attached to his town, with all things Baltimore in his bones; he never misses a parade, keeps his stoop clean and his primary wardrobe might be Orioles give-aways. He might even call himself a Baltimoron, with self-deprecation and civic pride.Whether embraced or reviled, it looks like “Baltimoron” is going to have a big moment sometime this year, and I’m guessing toward the holiday season.The Baltimorons, from director Jay Duplass, just made a splash at the South By Southwest Film and TV Festival in Austin. It was named an audience favorite in the narrative feature category and reviewers at SXSW loved it.Set on Christmas Eve in Baltimore, it’s the story of a sobered-up former improv comic (played by Baltimore native Michael Strassner) who, because of a dental emergency, meets an older woman (a dentist played by Liz Larsen) and the two have a holiday adventure. Their connection develops into a May-December romance in December.“The feel-good movie of 2025,” declared the headline over Kristy Puchko’s review for Mashable. She called the film “an absolute side-tickling and soul-enriching delight” and found Strassner’s comic timing and scruffy charisma “absolutely extraordinary.”Puchko wrote that The Baltimorons, quietly shot, on a low budget and on location, travels “all over Baltimore, from quiet residential streets to sketchy parking lots, bustling holiday parties, and a spot offering a serene view of the water.”“A beautiful film,” wrote Brian Tallerico in his review for RogerEbert.com. He called The Baltimorons, written by Duplass and Strassner, “an incredibly funny, genuinely moving character study that’s not explicitly ‘about’ anything but these two lovely people.” He called Strassner’s performance “spectacularly charming.” In the Hollywood Reporter, chief film critic David Rooney wrote: “There’s a sincerity to the movie that sidesteps the usual potholes of earnestness or sentimentality, thanks to terrific chemistry between the lead actors and the director’s unerringly light touch. It’s also an unabashed love letter to Baltimore, from its blue-collar neighborhoods to its harbor.”Like what you’re reading here?Wait. There’s more.On Instagram, Nicolas Curcio, a Hollywood screenwriter, raved about The Baltimorons, calling it a “new Christmas classic” and predicting that it will become a perennial holiday favorite. He called it deeply emotional and “very funny, but somber under the surface.” A fan of films by the Duplass brothers’ (Jay and Mark), Curcio said he “truly loved” the movie and was “excited for people to see it.”Curcio also mentioned for comparison another film made in Baltimore, Home For The Holidays, with Holly Hunter leading an excellent cast directed by Jodie Foster. That film is 30 years old this year, and it holds up beautifully, with the kind of humor and melancholy that reviewers found in the Duplass film.For years, we’ve been hoping to see the release of Fruitcake, a Christmas comedy, set in Baltimore, from John Waters. But getting financing for a new film has been a challenge, though last year Waters told Variety that Fruitcake “still might happen.”In the meantime, it looks like The Baltimorons will come our way later this year.Each review seemed to suggest that The Baltimorons could be a breakout film for Strassner, a 2007 graduate of Loyola Blakefield and a 2011 graduate of the University of Maryland who has appeared in several movies and television shows (Parks and Recreation, Modern Family). An online biography says: “His first role was Snoopy in ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’ in seventh grade and hasn’t looked back since.” Strassner also has appeared in television commercials, including the hilarious Super Bowl spot, dubbed “Abduction,” in which he fights off an alien spaceship’s tractor beam as it tries to steal his bag of Doritos.For Strassner, who is also listed as a producer of the film, The Baltimorons is partly autobiographical, starting with an opening scene that portrays a dark day — if not the darkest day — of his life. Reviews of his appearance in The Baltimorons suggest that he’s reached a much brighter time in his career.“Essentially,” writes Puchko, the film editor at Mashable, “The Baltimorons is a celebration of those moments when — despite all the reasons to shield ourselves from a cruel world — we open up to a new friend. It’s about the magic in being vulnerable, not out of naiveté but out of hope.”From this could come a whole new meaning for Baltimoron — not derogatory, maybe even complimentary. ...read more read less