Little Favour

This film makes absolutely no sense. Everything about it was average and an incredible cliché. I thought Nick Moran's character was shockingly poor and unoriginal, the run-of-the-mill Russian mobster but with a dreadfully bad accent. The title design was a disgrace, they used the same cheap font in the poster as the titles!! Overall I'm disgusted given the fact the production raised over 80K for this film on Indiegogo and I've seen far superior shorts over the past fews years, made into features even, for less than 10K. I sincerely hope this doesn't become a feature because the screenplay is nothing special and it's unfair for other filmmakers that don't have connections (i.e. Cumberbatch) who are trying to make a name for themselves.

10 out of 10 for the acting, the cinematography, music, and directing. This stunning short thriller grabs you by the throat and won't let go.

Benedict Cumberbatch is superb - nuanced and physically adept - as the vulnerable yet powerfully skilled ex-soldier (appears to be special forces from his formidable combat skills) and yet his life is a wreck; he gets a nasty text from a date and lives in a hell hole. The character is intriguing and begs for further development.

The action and suspense are handled beautifully by all. Where this film could use some help, however, is in the writing. Neither the characters nor the storyline are developed (at least to this viewer's satisfaction) and while I was riveted throughout, the ending left me with the kinds of questions that suggest less an artistic choice than an omission.

With the addition of a writer in the same league as everyone else in this film, this production company will know no bounds. I look forward to the next offering from Sunny March. Meanwhile, LITTLE FAVOUR is definitely worth watching. An excellent debut.

I was convinced to watch this after reading the summary here on IMDb, and if I'm honest, I would probably say that the summary perhaps overshoots the film a little.

That said, the evident acting is brilliant and the camera-work and editing were excellent. The score, too, was excellent. Fully engaging and brutally so. I was never distracted from it, but instead my mind was locked into it.

I only think that there was perhaps something missing - despite myself, I couldn't pinpoint exactly what it is (which irritates me, as that's no help at all).

I was left with a feeling of needing more, but perhaps that is what we are meant to be left with. It's a slice, but we don't get to taste the rest of the apple.

(Edit: Upon rewatching, I found that I missed a lot in my first viewing. This is largely due to sound - there's a lot of dialogue that I missed when played without headphones, though whether that's my fault or the editors (or a combination thereof) I don't know. That said, I've got more appreciation for the story, now. I suggest keeping the volume up when watching.)

This is the most beautifully produced and brilliantly acted student film I ever saw. It is also, despite the high-quality talent, a mess and muddle of a film. The villains are hackneyed stereotypes, the dialogue cliché-ridden and the character actions incomprehensible. The directing is so poor that at the pivotal moment of the film, the action we need to see is out of frame.

Loyal Cumberbatch fans will surely praise it to the heavens and his extraordinary talent is on display, but it's simply not much of a story and poorly told, at that, with the very serious issue it touches on at the end handled in an offensively shallow manner.

the presence of Benedict Cumberbatch is only good point. but it is far to be enough. the story is confuse and when it seems clear it is silly. the tension, the fight scenes, the dialogs, the ambiguous end , each must conquer different sort of public. and that purpose remains unrealistic. than, it is a slice from a story not a story itself. a kind of salad with too many ingredients, without of credible taste. and the great error remains the generous possibilities of story. the idea is not bad , the cast and a more inspired script could be ingredients of a decent movie. but a Prometheus is more important than story. and art of confusion , so large...