The Robbery

This dark comedy sees a meth head go to rob a store while her Uber waits for her in order to get money to get her dog out of the pound. Things don't go to plan – which is to say they go just as badly as you would expect that "plan" to go.

There is a certain dark amusement in seeing Crystal (yes, really) have a disaster and one misfortune after another in pursuit of a small amount of money. The film plays it out with commitment, although at the same time it is pretty broad in how it does it – although it is not openly mocking the lead character, it doesn't build her out to be more than the butt of the misfortunes. In terms of content the film has this limit, although it is neat in what it does. The manner of delivery makes it worth noting; it is all done in one shot – from the Uber on the road, into the store, around the store, and back out again. Technically I liked this, but it also means the actress is impressive as she deals really well with hitting her marks, having special effects applied to her, and of course keeping her performance going at the same time. And it is a good performance that asks her to be crazy, sad, in pain, in rage – it is quite a range she goes through and she sells the character and scenario.

The content itself is a bit broad, but the actual delivery is really good.

No pun intended - trying to rob anything nowadays ... well it is not easy. Which I think is a good thing right? Best not to do anything illegal at all! I am talking about the distractions one is faced with - robbery excluded. You have your cell phone and people trying to connect with you.

Which generally speaking is a good thing - but when you are busy, maybe not the best thing. So our main character thinks she will be able to pull off something easy. Well as you can guess, not just from the title, it won't be easy ... at all. The dialog is sharp, the twists really keep you on the edge of your seat .. and the ending is just wonderful... sometimes things just work out ... more or less for everyone involved ... well at least one has to suffer ... in more than one way.

I thought, at first, it is going to be epic and I'm gonna see some good action. But no, everything happened slowly and calmly. At how things evolved, it didn't seem like an actual robbery. There was more screaming and exchanges of swears than shooting and blood and stuff like that.

I teach Film 101 and have shown this to every class. As the critic's review indicates, it's not very complex, but the acting is good, which makes it a great example for an intro level class, and dark comedy is always fun with freshmen. It also tests their powers of observation, because I don't tell them ahead of time that it was shot in one take.

We discuss things like the importance of the unexpected twist in a short film, pacing and keeping the audience invested, how character is revealed through conflict and emotion, and how much planning is involved in shooting something like this in a single shot.