I watched Please! again last weekend and once again was *pleased* with how tightly written this script was and how beautifully shot for an indie and shorty. Paul Black, writer/producer/director, did a masterful job grabbing you at the first shot and keeping your interest throughout the 15 minute film.
The music score by Saul Freeman also gives a great deal to the feel of the film. From the title shots of the credits, at the beginning, with the siren and the dark pulsing of instrumentals and thumping of snare drum, it is a setup for dread. Very effective few minutes. When we see Peter (Gerard Butler) with his bottle of booze, sit down, put a bullet in a chamber, twirl it and put the gun to his head and pull the trigger, we know this will not end happily.
But the brilliance of the script is that after seeing Peter in his despair and at his worst, we see him finally come to some semblance of success and normalcy, especially in the scene with his little daughter. Butler has a real affinity for working with children. He has already had a great scene with an editor at his publishing company. And a terrific scene with another driver on the street, showing his near madness as he shouts "I'm a novelist," waving the gun around.
The writer/director ends his little jewel of a cautionary tale with a blast of white light - and in that few seconds we are completely in suspense - and dread. It is the triumph of this film that the last scenes are so shocking - making its' point horribly. The screams and the voice over of Peter's day in the background, end the film as it began with the melancholy music and darkness closing in.
I give it 9/10.
Jane
The music score by Saul Freeman also gives a great deal to the feel of the film. From the title shots of the credits, at the beginning, with the siren and the dark pulsing of instrumentals and thumping of snare drum, it is a setup for dread. Very effective few minutes. When we see Peter (Gerard Butler) with his bottle of booze, sit down, put a bullet in a chamber, twirl it and put the gun to his head and pull the trigger, we know this will not end happily.
But the brilliance of the script is that after seeing Peter in his despair and at his worst, we see him finally come to some semblance of success and normalcy, especially in the scene with his little daughter. Butler has a real affinity for working with children. He has already had a great scene with an editor at his publishing company. And a terrific scene with another driver on the street, showing his near madness as he shouts "I'm a novelist," waving the gun around.
The writer/director ends his little jewel of a cautionary tale with a blast of white light - and in that few seconds we are completely in suspense - and dread. It is the triumph of this film that the last scenes are so shocking - making its' point horribly. The screams and the voice over of Peter's day in the background, end the film as it began with the melancholy music and darkness closing in.
I give it 9/10.
Jane