Hands Solo is the porn name for a man called Vernon who was born profoundly deaf. Innocently replying to a job notice which specifically asked for no verbal skills required, Vernon found himself on a porn set and a few hand gestures in the right area later, a star was born. With his unique ability with his hands, Vernon wowed the deaf porn market and this documentary joins him on the set of his latest spoof (The Wristler) but it seems that perhaps there is a gap in his life not filled by success and fame.
This short film is a good idea; it takes a deaf cast and uses the disability in the narrative – but not as a negative thing. Indeed the film really doesn't make a big deal out of the fact the characters are deaf despite the need to use this within the narrative. The outrageous idea sets us up nicely for 15 minutes of comedy but unfortunately the short film doesn't deliver much beyond the base joke. The material needed to be sharp but mostly it isn't; there were maybe one or two moments where I chuckled but mostly jokes were either absent or fell flat. The narrative more or less did the same and the 15 minutes runtime felt too long. The cast are decent and in particular I enjoyed the turns from Kirby, Shastri and Stapleton, but the material for them was just not there often enough.
It is a shame because it is a decent idea which uses deafness well (not as a negative thing or worthy cause) but the comedy is tatty and basic. The film needed a lot more edge, a lot more laughs and just generally a lot more sharpness in the basic script and delivery. Points for effort for sure, but it never amounts to much unfortunately.
