...in that order, is my rating for these four short films, from best to worst. The stories have been told before, by other reviewers, so I'll just say that "l.t.r." is certainly the most entertaining, with wicked writing and another awesome performance by Weston Mueller (who was in "Crush" on BOYS TO MEN), who has "future star" written all over him. Someone give Phillip J. Bartell a feature! Next, for all it's bad criticisms, I enjoyed "O Beautiful". Easily the best-looking of the bunch, the cinematography made up for the occasional incredulous moment. The two leads were sincere in their approach, and their performances were quite good. The script is what failed them. The split screen technique worked most of the time, but not all. I think the director should have wielded it with a little more finesse, as there were moments when it was too distracting (inside the truck). Then take "This Car Up", which utilizes split-screen in a clever and interesting way with good performances. The biggest fizzle in the bunch was "Bumping Heads" starring Craig Chester, an actor I really like, but who is wasted here. The movie is limp all around with unsteady acting and a script that, well, could have been better.
My overall recommendation is that BOYS LIFE 4 is worth a look for "l.t.r." alone.
