Cheatin'

Slow, hollow, melodramatic and pretentious. The only redeeming qualities Cheatin' 2013 had is the unique art style and animation. At times it felt like an animation show reel instead of an actual telling of a decent story.

Sometimes the art style and acting doesn't fit well with the tone. The exaggerated and flippant animated scenes didn't help either. Felt very amateurish

Everything stops making sense at the end. It will leave you telling yourself 'oh okay that's happening'

I have to mention that it isn't all bad. There are scenes that I can't imagine being any better.

Cheatin' is a bit bizarre, but entertaining nonetheless. It's an animated narrative film that tells the troubled love story of Ella and Jake, which has no dialogue, just grunts and squeals from the animated characters. The two meet at the fair while Jake is on a date with some other broad. As Ella gets crashed into too many times in the bumper car rink, she suffers a crash and almost dies from electrocution. Luckily, Jake is there to save her, and the two are love struck with each other (WARNING: There's a lot of softcore cartoon sex in this movie). Things seem to be going swimmingly, but Jake is just too much of a hunk—he has women throwing themselves (and their clothes) at him left and right. One especially sadistic, redheaded woman leads Ella into a changing room full of male mannequins while she tries on clothes, and snaps a photo of her to make it seem like she was getting a bukkake sesh. The conniving woman drops by the gas station at which Jake works, flirts with him (to the chagrin of her meathead husband), and slips him the photo, which sends him into tears and a mania to get back at Ella … by having sex with everyone woman with a vagina. Once Ella discovers a number in his work shirt, she, too, is bent on revenge. She first tries to put a hit on Jake with the sadistic redhead's husband, but when that falls through, she meets a magician of sorts, who can transfer her into other women's body's and spoil Jake's cheating exploits. Will the two come to terms and understand root of all these unfortunate mistakes? Cheatin' is great for one run though, though it isn't especially riveting. The animation is a great blend of colored-pencil-looking techniques reminiscent of the backdrops of Hey Arnold! (except the characters are animated that way, too), and the characters' bodies get comedically blown out of proportion to add a dash of cartoonish flair. These animation aspects keep the movie's engine running, but it feels too long and would have been more efficient as a short.

A few years ago, my oldest daughter invited me to go along with her to New York ComicCon....usually not the sort of place I'd choose to hang out for a few days, as I really hate crowds. Most of the comic book guests and video games didn't interest me very much and I was resigned to just walking about the convention center...bored to tears. That is, until I learned that Bill Plympton HIMSELF was going to be there! I have been a major Plympton fan...and I would now have a chance to meet him! I am sure it wasn't necessarily the highlight of Mr. Plympton's ComicCon experience, but it certainly was for me. I not only got a chance to talk with him but to get a couple nice drawings and autographs. A year later, my daughter met Mr. Plympton again...and this time she bought me one of his amazing books and even had him draw a picture of me inside! This is something I'll definitely treasure.

Why am I telling you this? Well, I just wanted you to know that this is NOT an unbiased review. No, I have a very strong bias towards his wonderful and weird sense of humor and his one of a kind hand-drawn animation. After all, in this age of fancy CGI, you normally don't expect to see an entire cartoon animated with colored pencil drawings...but they work very well. And his bizarre sense of humor in shorts such as Guide Dog, Hot Dog as well as One of Those Days make his cartoons something you won't soon forget.

Bill's latest is a full-length animated film called Cheatin'. It debuts on April 3rd in theaters and will be released on the internet through Vimeo on Demand on April 21st....and I strongly suggest you see it. However, it is very different from his hilarious short films. Instead, Cheatin' is an amazingly surreal and occasionally absurd sort of love story. To understand, you just have to see it to get the full effect. His characters never talk and it's amazing how much feeling they actually convey through grunts, sighs and moans. And, speaking of moans, this love story is NOT for kids...nope, definitely not. There is nudity, a decent amount of cartoon sex and a plot that isn't the best thing for younger audience members. However, it did work in the story and didn't seem gratuitous...most of the time.

The bottom line is that even if you have seen the Plympton shorts, you may be taken totally by surprise by Cheatin'--I know I was. It's incredibly artistic, the music is AMAZING and the film very sentimental and, at times, touching and hilarious. It's a strange confection...but one I would like to see more of from the Plymptoons folks-- especially because it's so unlike what we would normally think of when we think of a cartoon. It's more...an experience.

Jake and Ella cross paths in a fleeting movement when their bumper cars run into each other. Thus begins a romance that is totally bliss, but unfortunately because of Jake's insecurities he seeks refuge in the arms of other women. Ella loves Jake so much, that she takes a chance in a 'soul machine' and allows Jake to keep fooling around. An operatic tale, that blends love, passion, and a parade of 'hootchies' I saw this movie as part of the Atlanta Film Festival and the creator Bill Plympton shared how his inspiration was from a page from his life. Pympton met a women and knew she was the one, she moved in and it was a disaster. He utterly grew to hate her but still had the passion to want sex with her. The movie Cheatin' harps on the complexity of human relationships and how sometimes those cheating hearts are not so black and white. Cheatin' is told using the language of dance and song, no words are ever conveyed but the images flow the emotions of this fun and endearing tale.

I saw it as part of the Atlanta film festival

I stumbled across this film during college. I've never seen a film or short of Plympton's before so I went into this with zero expectations. I was horrified and delighted all at once with the animation. The colors and the sounds... wow. It overwhelmed my senses sometimes but overall it maintained a good story. The film speaks for itself honestly. It's sad, yet magical and really made me question if love could survive in such a cruel, jealous world.

Being in a new relationship at the time, the movie certainly struck a nerve. The situation that came about with Jake and Ella's love story was one I never wished upon myself. I cried, in fact. I sometimes relate too closely with movies to the point where they can be too much to bear to watch again. Experiencing this one once more though, with all that's happened in the space between the first viewing and now... it hurts a little less and it's still beautiful.

If you haven't seen it, you should.