Long Branch

This is a must see wonderful short. The actors, story and story-telling come together very nicely from start to finish. Cinema savvy folk may realize where the story is heading but the filmmakers provide us with the fun of getting there; the fun of the journey. This two hander is wonderfully acted and by the end your heart is warmed by the possibilities. Set in a winter-scape with clever use of the natural light, surroundings and avoiding the need for props, the direction concentrates on the story-telling and the performances. Short filmmakers can certainly learn a lot from this particular short. There is a very everyday feel to the film, an audience pleaser hence its acceptance to so many festivals in the first place. Well done!

Alex House and Jenny Raven play two teens who have just met. Out of the blue, the girl announces that she wants to have sex but wants to know nothing about the young man--not even his name. She just wants sex...NOW. Unfortunately, she's picked the wrong guy, as he lives way far away from downtown Toronto where this was filmed. In fact, he lives at the very last stop that public transportation reaches--Long Branch. It's a very cold night and she doesn't want any small talk. And so, after two hours, they finally reach the house...and are exhausted. And, not exactly in the mood.

This film from Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart works well mostly because the acting is so good. Although you know little about these two characters, you start to like them because of the fine acting and excellent job by Clark and Stewart.

I almost turned it off early because the whole idea of teens and a one night stand is very unappealing to me (I am a dad with daughters about the same age as the characters!). However, over time this film impressed me and ended up being a bit sweet.

Its simplicity , its lovely simplicity is the lead motif for see it. Because it is pure romance. Not complicate, not at the wow level, not impressive. A guy. A girl. A long way to home. And a splendid end. Enough for one of short films who could be about you. And that is the smart basic idea who sustain this charming short film about strangers, surface of relation , a basement and the love.

As I used to live just beside the Long Branch Go Station/Streetcar stop, and often took the 44 Kipling bus south after getting off the subway, I simply want to point out that the part during which the couple walk through what appears to be an underground parking lot after riding on his bicycle doesn't make sense. Almost all the housing around this transit hub is reachable within about a ten minute ride by bicycle, with no intervening subterranean passages required.

Still, I truly wonderful short: I gave it a 9/10.