Denial

I saw this at the 2006 Palm Springs International Festival of Short films and was impressed with the stylish look of this short film and the acting. Only two on screen roles here in the real life couple of Courtney Ford and Brandon Routh. Routh of course has recently gained fame as the new movie Superman. Here he plays a man who doesn't see that his relationship with his live-in girlfriend is falling apart as she tries to reach out to him to get things back to where they once were in their romance. He breaks out of his denial stage and briefly starts piecing things together. This is a dark drama and comes from the debut of director/writer/editor Joel Kelly. Knowing nothing about Kelly you have to wonder if this story was something that happened in real life to someone he knew. Great acting performances from Routh and Ford but for a 15 minute short it tackles to big of possible longer storyline with not enough character development. This could have still remained a short but I felt it would have worked better for me at maybe 10 minutes more to learn a little more of these characters and their romance. Nice cinematography from Masanobu Tkayanagi and sound from Brett Hinton and Mark Aragon. Terrific job of editing by filmmaker Kelly. Ford produced this along with her step brother Roberto Orci and television veteran Hal Sparks. I would give this an 8.0 out of 10.

I saw this short film at Cinevegas where it premiered in June... and the quality of visuals, sound, and editing put it in a very different category from the rest of the shorts. It's only 15 minutes long but in every other way is of the caliber of a studio feature-length film. Incredible photography and direction, emotional content, and an intriguing plot twist that operates on several levels...be sure to think beyond what might appear on the surface!

Both the actors in it are very believable...even though they run the gamut of emotions in such a short time frame, the acting is not overdone at all, instead they are able to deliver their performance with the subtlety and realism that makes you empathize and relate to each of their emotions....whether confusion, joy, sorrow, whatever. Very real, very relatable, easy to identify with--and one of them you'll probably recognize from a quite different role. :-)

If you get the chance to see this short, make sure you do...it's worth it. Beautiful, tangible, and intriguing...I'm looking forward to other films by this director for sure.

Whoa!!! This Joel Kelly (creator/director)is simply amazing!!! Finally, a Indie that doesn't insult the audience with bullshit cloaked as art. I saw Denial at CineVegas (couldn't wait to write this comment afterwards)and was blown away. This guy should start cranking out more movies with a bigger budget. It's nice to see talented film makers with brains make this kind of excellent story. Am still shaking my head. I can't believe it was Kelly's first film. It seemed more like he's been around for years. Oh yeah, props to Routh and Ford too. Both are excellent actors. Routh had no cape or tights in this one and didn't need it to draw in the audience. Ford was powerful. Didn't hurt that she's also stunning! They complete the equation. We want more!!!!!!

I caught this short film in CineVegas this year and I was blown away by it.

The film is visually beautiful, but the performances by the two leads really bring the film to life. It was nice to get a chance to see Routh's range as an actor. He delivers a powerful performance that truly shows his versatility.

The female lead, Courtney Ford, also delivered an excellent performance. Many moments that could have been overblown by a lesser actress, were handled with subtlety, which gave the film a very personal feel.

Overall, I found myself very wrapped up in the story and in the end I wanted to see more. This is by no means implying that the film felt unfinished. It's simply that I wanted to gain further insight into the lives of the two main characters. Writer/Director Joel Kelly really did an excellent job of capturing the emotions we feel in the best and the worst of times.

If you get the opportunity to catch this at a festival I would highly recommend it.

This short from first time Director/Writer Joel Kelly keeps playing in my head over and again. I was excited to have caught this as part of the wonderful shorts series at the recent CineVegas Film Festival.

Kelly's eye for using the camera to "speak" like characters aids this visual masterpiece. His choice of co-stars Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford doesn't let anything about the truth of lost love slip by. These two command one's attention beautifully. They carve a real picture into the pain and trials that unforgotten memories evoke.

I left the theatre with tears on my face, struck by the understanding of the plight of these characters coupled with a desire to know more about them, their history, their struggle, and especially what becomes of them. Personally this film touched a vain in my own life in a profound way. I look forward to Kelly using his gift of writing to continue to develop such future characters and give us a feature length look at his talents as a Director of emotionally riveting aspects of living. To feel pain is to feel alive, and this he has captured eloquently in such short time.

Don't deny yourself the opportunity to see this poignant film-in fact, find a Festival and go out of your way to see it. For a first film, I say we should all be on the lookout for more from Joel Kelly!