Standing Room Only (2003) User Reviews

Directional Debut

[Scifier · 2 August 2003]

This film may not have delivered some earthshattering moments, but the eye Candy was great!!! If you accept this film for what it was ~ a directional first attempt and not some seasoned production you will be pleasently surprised! Give it a chance.

Stifle the giggles

[samizdat7 · 1/10 · 29 July 2003]

Having had the unfortunate experience of seeing the premiere for this Miramax-produced vanity-short by a first-time director (gee, isn't she married to someone famous!?!) in her presence, I felt the need to stifle my giggles (as did much of the audience, I suspect). Simply put, it is crap. The concept is one which may seem a good idea to a commercially-minded first-year film student but it just does not make for an interesting short film. And even if it did, this is not it! Apart from being uninteresting, the massive hyper-overacting, together with the lurid score, means that it verges on being a farce without ever quite getting there. The film is technically excellent but with the talent available to it that it just not enough. The direction is totally uninspired, shot selection is appalling, each of the actors was clearly making a different movie to every other (no direction!) and the end result just doesn't work.

The revelation is not as effective as it tries to be

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 7 March 2017]

"Standing Room Only" is a 10-minute live action short film from 2003, so this one has its 15th anniversary next year already. The writer and director is Deborra-Lee Furness, an Australian filmmaker, and her origin goes well with the cast inclusion of superstar Hugh Jackman here. However, there are more familiar names in the cast certainly, such as Gambon, Dahl, Mastrantonio or Lumley and also Andy Serkis even, who plays a pretty absurd character. Anyway, this is the story of a couple people waiting for a show and more than half of the short film is them waiting and interacting with each other while being in line. When the show finally starts, it is also over very quickly and there is a little revelation at the very end that is not good enough though to really save the mediocrity. There is basically no dialogue in here almost, so you can watch this even if you aren't fluent in English. For me, however, it is not good enough for a recommendation and I say this as a Hugh Jackman film. Thumbs-down.

Delightful short film

[ceallaig-1 · 5 January 2004]

This was great fun to watch -- funny, upbeat and with a twist ending. It was also fun playing 'spot the familiar faces' in the cast Ms. Furness assembled -- it's a pity the woman doesn't have more 'pull' in the artistic community, lol! I look forward to seeing more of her work both behind and in front of the camera -- I've been able to see some of her work from Australia, and she is also a fine actress as well as a writer/director.

If you get a chance to check this out, do so -- it's well worth your time!