In the 15-minute short 'Date Night', writer/director Jason Fragale introduces us to an unnamed woman (played by Erin Cline) who seems determined to spend her evening at home alone. Even at the encouragement of a friend, the woman seems embedded on her couch unwavering in her intention to spend the night eating microwave popcorn and flipping through pages of a magazine.
Her evening suddenly changes however when to her surprise, a man suddenly appears in her living room. The man (David Fuit) has a robotic stare into an abyss of nothingness as the woman verbally confronts her unexpected guest. "Jesus! Who are you? What do you want?" The man responds with adolescent lines of wooing ("If I could ask god one thing. It would be to stop the moon. Stop the moon and make this night and your beauty last forever"), which remarkably, yet believably, make an impression with the lonely woman.
The man's relentless string of romantic statements has the female lead drop her guard and within minutes, the two are sharing touches, strawberries and champagne in what many would consider an ideal romantic evening. The events culminate in an off camera bedroom bonding but when the woman awakens, she finds the handsome man to whom she just shared her bed on the couch drinking beers and acting anything like the passionate man who invaded her home.
As the musical score builds, the two become violently physical with each other and a kitchen knife soon becomes the tool that brings the evening to a stunning close.
Writer/director Jason Fragale (Simone) shows some incredible style and talent with the quarter-of-an-hour Date Night. The story itself is tight and fairly straight forward until the events of the final 5-minutes trump the humor and melodramatics of its opening. But Fragale is able to get brilliant performances out of his two leads and his ability to frame a shot coupled with sound mixes and film editing expertise that is usually lacking in independent shorts, keeps Date Night far above its peers.
The easy flow of the camera work allows audiences to sit back and enjoy the cheesiness of the opening encounter without trying to outpace the film in concluding how the relationship or the evening will ultimately end.
The sum of Date Night's parts equal a complete entertaining package that is proficiently executed by a group of talented individuals both in front and behind a camera. Bravo to them all.
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