When Todd Rohal began using the popular crowdfunding website Kickstarter as a means to obtain funding for his short film Rat Pack Rat and concluded his lengthy press release by saying, "I promise a story you've never seen or heard before and images that have yet to be created," he wasn't kidding. Rat Pack Rat is one of the most ingenuous short films I've witnessed in years and my favorite project by Rohal thus far. For years, Rohal has been creating quirky, offbeat short and feature-length films that center themselves around odd characters in their peculiar environments, and with Rat Pack Rat, Rohal finds himself in his finest hour, creating a remarkably wicked and seriously unpredictable project.
The film concerns a Sammy Davis, Jr. impersonator (Eddie Rouse), who was contacted via Craigslist by a woman (Maggie Beegle) who has a terminally ill son and would love to see his idol Sammy Davis, Jr. perform for him by his bedside. When the impersonator arrives and sees the woman's son is obese, hooked up to numerous different tubes, has several little worms stemming from his heart, and seems to live off a steady diet of Kool-Aid and fun-size Milky Way bars, he becomes noticeably uncomfortable, even moreso by the son's odd requests. The son is played by popular independent film actor Steve Little, who has appeared in works by Quentin Dupieux and Rohal in the past. Little's character manages to tread the line of being understandably sheltered and sympathetic as well as awkward and often cloying, which, given the short is only seventeen minutes, is a large accomplishment for him.
The Sammy Davis, Jr. impersonator winds up performing the Rat Pack's hit song "Candyman" for the boy twice, once as if he is singing on a stage and the other in an extremely awkward and intimate way. With this, the film practically oozes unsettling vibes and feelings of discomfort in the best possible way. Writer/director Rohal keeps it so we are totally in the dark about where this idea could go, and tries to mesmerize us by Rouse's incredibly convincing performance as a clearly struggling Sammy Davis, Jr. impersonator as well as inviting us into the life of this seriously ill manchild, who gets his wish to come true, despite his wish being unusual and beyond peculiar.
Rat Pack Rat is the kind of oddity that needs to be seen, as cliché of a statement as that sounds. The film bears vibes that are unable to convey in a typed-out review, instances that are tough to articulate and summarize with spoken word, and performances that are simply shortchanging to mention in a few sentences before glossing over them to jump to another topic. It's one of the most fun seventeen minutes you'll ever have being uncomfortable.
Starring: Eddie Rouse, Steve Little, and Maggie Beegle. Directed by: Todd Rohal.
