Dealbreaker

I saw Dealbreaker at Sundance Film Festival in January. Since I have never watched an episode of Sex in the City, I didn't notice any similarities to it or any other film. But you may be onto something, since Gwynneth Paltrow herself says: "I find "Sex and the City" (1998) irreverent and shocking. It's one step beyond how girls really talk. I would do a cameo on that show in a flash." (IMDB). Wherever she got her inspiration, this film was my favorite short! I thought it was hilarious from start to finish, and I would love to see it again. My only complaint was that there was only one star from the short there to represent the film at the Q&A at the end, and the other suits didn't have much to say about it. I did think I spotted the star of the film, Arijia Bareikis, on the streets of Park City, but I cannot be sure. I thought the writing was great, the story line was easy to understand, and my girlfriend and I were totally howling out loud at some of the scenes, screaming: "OH MY GOD!! We've been there, done that!" I thought it was a great bit of entertainment, as well as all the shorts in that program.

I saw this short at Sundance 2006 and I was immediately struck by the feeling that I had seen it before. Sure, the production value was good and it was funny, but "Dealbreaker" was anything but original. Of course the "horrible boyfriends" thing has been done before, but there were a few specific story lines that were literally identical to scenes from "Sex & the City." The two I can think of now -- the baby-talker and the bathroom scene -- were so blatantly the same as "Sex" that many people in the audience noticed it. A woman sitting behind me was vocal about her disappointment and we both agreed that some of the writing in "Dealbreaker" was bordering on plagiarism.

All I know is that if I had written "Dealbreaker" in my screen writing class I wouldn't have gotten away with it. I can only assume that because of the big names associated with this short (Gwenyth Paltrow and Glamour Magazine) these issues were swept under the rug. Altogether, it was a huge disappointment and I'm surprised Sundance allowed it in the festival.

When asked to discuss her dating history for someone's college thesis, Fran tells the story of several relationships she has had that failed. Through the use of flashbacks, you get to see all of the nonsense and "dealbreakers" she experienced that caused the demise of each and every one of them. From rude, to childish, to still caught up in the college life, the viewer gets to see Fran's dealbreaker/break-up cinching rationale for getting the hell out of dodge. The climax of the short does not disappoint. It is irreverently and unbelievably funny. I have been talking about it with my friends for days.

The way I got the short film DVD was through Glamour magazine (it was included in the Jan/2006 issue as an insert). Enjoy!!