I recently saw this short at the Fort Lauderdale Film Festival - I took note of it because there was another AFI film there and the company I work for represents quite a few AFI alumni.
The thing I enjoyed about this film is that it didn't at all feel like a student film - it wasn't about flash or showing off; it was a simple story told in a very specific, mature fashion. It had a clear vision and was true to it from start to finish. I especially enjoyed the performance by Jack Wallace - he was very restrained, which made him all the more interesting - he has amazing eyes that told entire stories with only a look. I was also impressed by the photography - having seen countless shorts (especially from AFI) that go for style over substance, I was taken by the look of the film, which was photographed with great care and was very elegantly and naturally done. The editing, although leading to a movie that was perhaps too long and dragged at a few points, was also very supportive of the story - the editing of the film's climax was especially well done and really made for a strong ending.
My one critique is in the directing and writing - the movie feels like a knock-off of "About Schmidt", and lacks originality in my ways because of it. There are moments that feel very refined and sophisticated, but on the whole the movie feels 1 dimensional and a little heavy handed. I believe the concept (with more originality) would be more appropriate for a feature, but without a pacing that ebbs and flows, I believe it would be a very long movie. The music felt a little heavy as well, but I enjoyed that it was used so sparingly (another cue to bad shorts - they typically, though not always, use far too much music).
Overall I'd suggest seeing this if possible - while not the most original or best directed movie I've seen come out of AFI in the past 7 years, it's most certainly one of the stronger pieces as a whole and is impressive in its attempt to do something against the norm. I'd like very much to see what this group of filmmakers does in the coming years.