The Gunfighter

A fantastic post modern premise this short is hilarious and masterfully crafted. Quick and straight to the point this surprisingly action packed quickie has the potential for a full scale film and I highly recommend a watch

Browsing Amazon Prime Video I came across this brilliant gem. I thought it was a movie and wondered how they could keep the premise going, but sadly it's a short 9 minute film. The whole thing is hilarious from start to finish complete with the trope of a stranger walking into town, the reward for the capture of someone in the saloon, the standard saloon prostitute, the bartender, the token black guy. It's worth a watch and I'd love to see more.

I'm not a big fan of narration in films since too often it seems to be a tool to tell the audience what the film isn't able to deliver without help. In this case we have a gunslinger enter a saloon in the ol' West – he does so and is surprised to find that his every thought is being spoken out loud by an unseen voice. The narrator continues this with the others in the saloon, which seems only to increase the tensions and the chance of a balletic shootout of death occurring.

There is really one joke to this short film and it becomes very clear early on what that joke is. Basically we have the narrator talking through everyone's intentions as if he were writing them and providing the context and detail only an author would know. This means the intentions of those in the saloon start to come out – so for example when a character denies planning to kill someone, the narrator adds "he lied" at the end. So this is the joke and looking at the 10 minute running time, I did wonder if it could make it, since I saw that I had 'got it' only 3 minutes in.

Fortunately the film is funny enough and creative enough with the idea that it makes it work for the whole time. The breaking of the genre and fourth wall plays very well as it manages to have its cake and eat it, with a genre heart while the rest break convention in various ways. It helps that it plays it well as a western, with a good feel for the genre and a professional production all round. The performances make the most of the well-written material but it is the unseen Offerman (Parks & Rec) that gets the best of it, and his delivery and timing is really well done (although of course the timing is helped by the edit). Those in the scene play it out well, with comedic performances and generally good delivery of their lines.

It may be one joke but it is a joke that is played with and delivered in a creative and engaging way, making it a funny and entertaining short film with good solid laughs throughout.

I think this is the first short with narration that I see. Quite nice. The characters are goofy and the actors play the roles pretty good. I like the way the so-called narrator tries to spice up the scene and make each kill one another. It was funny. A short western worth remembering.

Normally I don't watch short films, but this one was definitely worth the exception. The concept with the narrator may not be entirely new, but it is played out very well.

The running gag (the all knowing narration) is accompanied by a few nice jokes will make you grin. The film doesn't take itself too serious, which helps.

Acting is good, camera work is good. A must see when you want to kill some time in a way you won't regret (which is rare these days with all the big productions that put massive special effects in front of decent acting and good plots).