Glenn Owen Dodds

A delightful short film that takes the question of: Is there a God? and plays with it in a clever and funny way. The funny here is not Will Farrell funny but more Jack Lemmon funny. The central character of Glenn Owen Dodds (GOD) is played by the very talented David Wenham opposite Abe Forsythe playing Michael. A lovely two-hander plot driven story keeps you wondering where it's going to lead but what really makes it shine is David Wenham's character of Glenn. His wonderful comic timing and the subtleties in his portrayal makes Glenn a memorable character. He relishes the opportunity to heighten Glenn's flaws which makes him more endearing. This is a short that does not take itself seriously and does not try to do too much as the two actor's carry this short cleverly with their performances. Loved the denouement.

Don't ask me why but I came in to this short film convinced it was going to be an American short film . Possibly it was due to the content . Anything featuring God in any way shape or form just has to be an American movie . It might very possibly be that the promo features someone who is very similar looking to those TV evangelists you see on the God channel . Clean cut , well presented and so terminally boring that the idea of eternal oblivion is infinitely more preferable than to listening to someone like that forever

The good news is GLENN OWEN DODDS is an Australian short film so right away there's an element of irreverence to it . It's true that it seems it's slightly confused as to what the point it's trying to make but at least it's devoid of any sort of preachy subtext one way or another . It's also got that honest to goodness earthy Aussie humour which is relatively charming . Indeed the charm does make up for the lack of a really strong central plot and the paucity of the story . It also contains a good performance by David Wenham as the title character . I knew I'd seen this guy before somewhere and it wasn't until the titles came up that I realised it was the same actor who appeared in LORD OF THE RINGS and 300 . Duh . No worries mate

This movie plays very skillfully with the questions many of us have: is there a god? How does he influence our life? Here the main character of Michael by chance happens to have five minutes with god (or Glenn Owen Dodds??). The script makes the most out of this situation: a sceptical human, ready to believe in god as an abstract superior being, and meets god in person. The role of Michael is played very believable by Abe Forsythe, displaying curiosity and doubt. God is played by David Wenham. Brilliant the way he plays with the gap between the cliché of god and the presence of the normal guy in an office. How do we think about god? This movie makes you think about it in a very enjoyable way ... whether you are a believer or not.

This film got a lot of praise on various sites so I was looking forward to seeing it for myself – heck it even has two user comments on IMDb which is rare for short films. Anyway, the plot sees a man on his way passed a building when he sees a line forming outside. Curious he goes over and is told that it is to see God, the big man himself. Of course this is nonsense but as he watches people come and go he decides to wait and see the score anyway,

The plot leads into a two-hander where we have a non-believer confronted by a decent Aussie bloke called Glenn Owen Dodds; Glenn loves the pups and has lost a penny or two on them and seems very too normal to be God. The scene continues in this comedic vein and as such it is at least interesting even if I have no idea what I should take away from it. If I was religious then perhaps I could take some meaning from it, or if I felt strongly the other way maybe I would see it as mockery – I'm not sure but it fell down for me in this regard. Ultimately it does seem to conclude on the side of faith but why it does this I don't know.

The manner of delivery is quite funny at least, with Wenham throwing a lot into his performance and producing a great Aussie stereotype while Forsythe plays it reasonably straight and allows him to work his (mysterious?) ways. For me it was entirely on Wenham's comic performance because I didn't find too much else here and, while I liked him and what he did, the film did run too long for this single joke – although in fairness not sure what else you could have dropped but more of him which would have been a loss.

Overall this is an amusing short but not one that worked particularly well for me. It was quite funny but overlong for the joke to make it the whole way; this leaves the point or message and in this area it just went over my head – I'm glad others appeared to get it and love it, but for me it was a nice idea with good comic delivery but it needed more edge or more commitment or more something to bring it home in a more satisfying manner.