This director's feature Cry_Wolf was just one of a number of lackluster PG-13 horror movies in recent years. The unrated DVD (which could just as easily have been rated PG-13 as well) included two of his shorts which far surpassed the feature in quality. The DVD had Tower of Babble, and this one, Manual Labor.
A couple walks into a parking garage, and faces a crisis which sends the guy running for their car, which he cannot find. A number of apparently throwaway lines and characters actually end up assuming greater importance later in the short. The punning meaning of the title does not become clear until the end.
It's actually quite fun, clever, and high energy. It's a shame that none of that carried over to the director's first feature length film, but perhaps he'll get another chance. In the meantime, perhaps he should return to making some more short films, at which he has excelled.
A couple walks into a parking garage, and faces a crisis which sends the guy running for their car, which he cannot find. A number of apparently throwaway lines and characters actually end up assuming greater importance later in the short. The punning meaning of the title does not become clear until the end.
It's actually quite fun, clever, and high energy. It's a shame that none of that carried over to the director's first feature length film, but perhaps he'll get another chance. In the meantime, perhaps he should return to making some more short films, at which he has excelled.