The Long and Short of It

It seems that Sean Astin wound up with some time on his hands while filming the Lord of the Rings, so he decided to make a film of his own. He enlisted Peter Jackson, Director of Lord of the Rings and some other cast and crew members. This is about 5 minutes in length and is a tale of cooperation and collaborative effort...symbiosis, essentially. When a workman has a problem hanging an advertisement, some people of differing sizes lend a hand (unbidden). The result is a properly done job and new friends for the workman. A creditable job by all. Peter Jackson took time out of his busy schedule to be the bus driver.

A lot of times, filmmakers and film students try to complicate things too much and end up creating a big mess of a story. Astin took a very simple idea and theme, planned and shot it well, and ultimately created a small work of art. Simplicity and great execution tend to be the characteristics that create really good short films. Think of all of the Pixar's shorts. Maybe that's why they bring home the best short film Oscars most of the time?

Cinematographer, Andrew Lesnie, does a great job in his acting debut as the grizzly painter! The part fits him well! Fon Chansantor is perfect and brings a smile of your face the first time you see her on screen. I can't forget to mention "Tall Paul" Randall who does delivers a fine wordless performance as well!

Congratulations to Mr. Astin on such a fine short. I've seen a lot of short films, but this is on of the best and my most favorite live-action short I've seen to date.

NOTE: Look for a cameo by Peter Jackson. It's pretty obvious which one he is!

This is a wonderful little short about cooperation. The direction is great. Sean took a very simple approach, not a lot of angles, just letting the simple story and setting come out. It seems like it was done simply as a fun diversion while filming the epic Lord of the Rings, and illustrating on a small level what all those involved learned. Watch for Peter Jackson's cameo. And be sure to read the credits. Some are just plain funny! All in all, a fun short film, that proves that Sean Astin has the instinct to become a great director, if he wants to.

This is a sweet, compact little film about the way total strangers can impact on each other's lives. Coming in at about four minutes and choreographed to the aria "Che Gelida Manina", it involves a simple but heartfelt story, a touch of humor, and puts forth the notion that everyone can have a role to play in the world -- all they have to do is look for the opportunity. I look forward to more work from Sean behind as well as in front of the camera. LOTR fans will recognize many of the faces here, and for those who have the Two Towers DVD, watch the 'making of' featurette on the short -- it is a riot!

I hope this little film met the criteria for inclusion in the Oscar race -- I would be delighted to cheer this to a win in the spring.

Nice little film with the message of helping each other out in a hard situation. You can almost touch the friendly and sympathetic atmosphere. Visually, it wasn't that special but still you can see that there's much more professional film crew behind it than with your average short films. And I think the music suits this one well. Of course we wouldn't know of this if it wasn't on the LOTR DVD but it made me smile, maybe even chuckle a bit and that's enough. Worth watching it again some another time, especially as this doesn't really take that much time out of your life.