The Robber

This is a wonderful short film about a thief who gets trapped inside the house he was trying to rob. Realizing there's not much for him to do but wait for the cops, he makes use of the groceries sitting on the counter and entertains Ajax, the woman's dog. When the police arrive, they deliver some bad news to a person they think is a member of the woman's family. What the cops don't know is that is the robber she was running away from.

I enjoyed this short a lot. It reminds me of the short films that used to get more exposure on HBO and other up-and-coming cable channels when I was a kid, when they needed to fill gaps in their programming grid. Similarly, I caught this short recently on INHD, one of the newest high-definition variety channels as part of their "Shorts in HD" program.

Though the transfer is full of neg dirt (white specs) and "frying eggs" from the analog audio track, the picture and sound were marvelous in HD. I even preferred that the analog artifacts were there because it made the experience recall those shorts when I was a kid, mentioned above. The blacks were deep and the night blues were slick. It was also sharp as a tack. Aside from the technicals (I'm a geek) the story was interesting and the performance engaging.

Unfortunately INHD doesn't list this "filler" program on their website or on my cable's programming grid so I'll just have to watch for it and be ready with the record button if I want to save it off to my DVR.

Given the amount of time it took to get to the plot-twist, I'd have to say pound for pound this film offers one of the more ingeniously dark and comedic plot twists I have seen in a while. I guess, it is sort of a "what goes around never comes around because of an unfathomable plot twist". Glad I was hangin around my TV set for this one. Look for it on PBS. the sound track was also very hip. My favorite track that they used was by "Land of the Loops". I can't recall the song but it might be "mathematical park". I live for films like this one. Robert Kerbeck turns in a subtle and hilarious portrayal of desperation (the frilly apron is a nice piece of costume design). And Gus the dog plays dumb rather smart.