Deleted Scenes

"Deleted Scenes" is a great short comedy, and a good addition to any short film festival. Many short festivals require patience, because short films, ironically but not surprisingly, have a habit of being too long. "Deleted Scenes" is indeed too long, but it's funny enough to justify most of its 23 minutes, including its downbeat yet fitting ending. Its ending is satisfying, which is rare in a 23-minute short movie, but the real gold here is in the painfully comedic interactions between the movie star and the struggling indie director of the movie that made him the star he is. As the pretentious artist and the pretentious celebrity compete over who gets the most time on the commentary track, their deadpan aggression towards each other is nearly as hilarious as an argument between Bret and Jemaine of Flight of the Conchords. The comedic timing is impeccable, with just enough silence to make viewers squirm, but not enough silence to slow down the momentum of the fights. The viciousness gets progressively worse, and the movie nearly cops out as it flirts with seriousness, but it keeps things light enough to redeem itself. In an interesting turn, the characters true feelings for each other are not revealed in the commentary booth, but in a clip of the movie for which they are recording the commentary, which we see as "Deleted Scenes" comes to an end. The indie movie for which they are now recording the commentary is also a well-done imitation of retro neo-noir called "South Bronx," and it comes complete with black and white cinematography, a jazz soundtrack, and a voice-over that repeatedly tells us, "This is the South Bronx, baby. You ain't nevah getting' out." It's detail is impressive, as is "Deleted Scenes" itself.

Any time I see a film and it's original, I am excited. This is one of the more exciting short films I have seen in some time because it doesn't remind me of any other movie--it's truly unique and funny....and very, very adult.

Five years after an independent film was made, the writer/director/actor and the star of the film are brought together to make a commentary track for the DVD. In this case, it's obvious that not only are they both very insecure about themselves but down deep they are jerks, so as they try to do the commentary, they keep messing it up due to these problems. For example, in one clip, the star of the film says how he was THE star--like it was his film. The other guy, naturally, is miffed and they stop the tape to discuss this. In fact, they never get rolling on the commentary because things like this happen again and again. It builds and builds and the underlying tension comes out in a very funny yet disturbing way.

Clever and very adult. This is a very good film--just one you DON'T want the kids to watch!

PS--You really do wonder how many of these DVD commentaries are similar to this--perhaps more than we'd imagine.