There is a cleverer, funnier film in here somewhere but unfortunately on this occasion it doesn't get out. We join the film with two beautiful people chatting against a white background; this we soon learn is the visual for them chatting online and this continues until the girl (Annie) asks to meet Brad. Problem is, Brad used a photo of his ruggedly handsome unemployed actor roommate Lance as his profile picture so this may be a bit of a shock. He agrees to the meet and then tries to work out how to salvage a relationship that hasn't even started yet.
The concept of chatting online with people and knowing them away from the insecurities of the "real" world is a timely one and has been/will be for some time. There is a certain appeal in being free of the "real" and being able to be yourself and just talk to people, but at the same time there is that duality of Facebook etc where there can be more pressure to impress with profile pictures, tweets from great places etc etc. This short film sort of comes at that, but only uses it to create a twist on a device that is as old as the 1987 film Roxanne with Steve Martin (that of a fake "front" to the less attractive real person – a device never used before 1987 but frequently since Martin wrote it). Anyway, what results is a nicely comic affair that heads towards a nicely "unromantic" conclusion but one that is still honest and cautionary. The white-screen idea is a nice one for the opening but outstays its welcome a bit and isn't helped by the film not being particularly funny it must be said.
Merrigan needed to be a bit more sympathetic while Bledsoe was trying too hard to be a "wide-chested funny character" while Maguire is a bit too awkward and really just a plot device. It is still a nice little sketch and has some good aspects but generally it was never really anything like as clever, funny, sweet or insightful as it needed to be, even if the potential was there for all of that.
The concept of chatting online with people and knowing them away from the insecurities of the "real" world is a timely one and has been/will be for some time. There is a certain appeal in being free of the "real" and being able to be yourself and just talk to people, but at the same time there is that duality of Facebook etc where there can be more pressure to impress with profile pictures, tweets from great places etc etc. This short film sort of comes at that, but only uses it to create a twist on a device that is as old as the 1987 film Roxanne with Steve Martin (that of a fake "front" to the less attractive real person – a device never used before 1987 but frequently since Martin wrote it). Anyway, what results is a nicely comic affair that heads towards a nicely "unromantic" conclusion but one that is still honest and cautionary. The white-screen idea is a nice one for the opening but outstays its welcome a bit and isn't helped by the film not being particularly funny it must be said.
Merrigan needed to be a bit more sympathetic while Bledsoe was trying too hard to be a "wide-chested funny character" while Maguire is a bit too awkward and really just a plot device. It is still a nice little sketch and has some good aspects but generally it was never really anything like as clever, funny, sweet or insightful as it needed to be, even if the potential was there for all of that.
