World premiere of a hilarious, fast-paced short film about how the staff at an upscale L. A. restaurant subdue a bunch of gangsters and their rich ringleader, who happens to own the place where they all work. A student project, this film is assured, displays lavish production values, is well acted by a tightly knit comic ensemble, and in general is just a rich romp of a flick. Justin Lutsky, who attended the Idaho International Film Festival where I saw this film, studied film-making at Chapman College in Orange County, CA, a program that, he told me, is coming on strong these days, not far behind USC in the quality of students and projects, if not quantity. I'll be looking for more good stuff from Lutsky in the future. My rating: 9/10 (A-)(Film seen on 10/01/05). If you'd like to read more of my reviews, send me a message for directions to my websites.
