Geri's Game

This animated short film tells the story of an old man, who plays a game of chess with himself in the park. As he loses the game, he decides to turn things around with a drastic move.

"Geri's Game" is an interesting animation, as we see only one character but he plays both sides of the game. In the middle of the film, it gets unclear whether there is really just one man or there are two. Yet, I think the ending resolves this issue. It is a funny animation, but it is not as outstanding as the recent Pixar short animations.

Pixar, especially now that Monsters, Inc. (preceded by the endlessly amusing For The Birds) has been released, is quickly becoming more and more famous for the tremendous quality of the short short animated films that precede their feature films. Geri's Game, which can be seen before A Bug's Life, is one of my favorite of all of Pizar's short animated films. It's a testament to the quality of the film that the punchline (that Geri is playing chess against himself) is not only revealed in the film's tagline, but is also clearly revealed right at the beginning of the film, and yet it still retains the surprising and amusing affect. The editing in this film is so well-done that, as the chess game switches back and forth between Geri and his alter ego, you almost forget that you already saw that he is alone in the park and is therefore playing against himself in this heated game.

I just learned from one of the other IMDb reviewers that Pixar dedicated enormous resources just for such a minor detail as to get Geri's coat to crease just right, and that is exactly the kind of thing that makes a good film, especially a short one. That is a tiny detail, but Pixar is so determined for their films to look just right that it is no surprise that they are now winning Oscars left and right for those films. Pixar spends all of the money that they put into their films in just the right places, and this can clearly be seen in the final product.

The purpose of these short film is clearly just to add to the huge amount of entertainment that is almost invariably involved in watching a Pixar film, because they can obviously not serve any other purpose, being so short. It's obvious that they are not put in to increase the viewing time of the sometimes rather short films that Pixar puts out, but rather just to increase the enjoyment derived from their films. When you go to see a Pixar film, you get more than your money's worth, and not because the films take up more of your time, but because the quality is so high. If anything, people should be grateful that the people at Pixar are able to create such huge amounts of entertainment in relatively short periods of time, unless you have nothing better to do than spend your days in a movie theater. While that is definitely how I would personally LIKE to spend my days, I just don't have the time, and I am grateful that Pixar is so good at what they do that they are able to provide entertainment of such high quality and not take up two and a half hours of my time. Bravo!

Geri's Game is the best life like animated short so far in Pixar collection of short films. I saw this before the main feature (A Bug's Life). A light hearted look at an old man who plays chess. The pieces look real that they seem to be better than the chess set I own.

I remember getting a kick of this short repeatedly when I saw Bug's Life in the theater repeatedly eight years back. Mostly because it sticks to the best rules of a little animated short like this. Less is more with the dialog, and editing and position of the camera are crucial. The filmmaker behind this, who hasn't done much aside from this short, is like a very wise film-student. In most film-student shorts, a good chunk of the goal in making 4 or 5 minute films is to put in as much information as possible while keeping it to the point and still having a story. The story here is a guy playing chess, Er, with himself, and getting into a competition to the death (well, almost) in having a check-mate. Geri's laughs and little facial gestures on either side are really genius in their own way, and the ending is one of those that puts a smile on your face. The music is also, in its own way, funny by way of being just a lowly accordion applying the backup to this wacky little scenario. Probably ranks up there with my very favorite Pixar shorts, worth another look on the Bug's Life DVD for sure.

'Geri's Game' is a short, animated film by the geniuses at Pixar Animation, and it was screened in cinemas to precede 'A Bug's Life' (which happens to be my favourite Pixar production).

This short film borders on perfection. Absolutely no dialogue is spoken in the film, but it doesn't need to be. The simple plots concerns an old man named Geri (whom you may recognise from Toy Story 2) who loves to play a high-stakes game of chess in the park. The only catch: He has nobody else to play with!

This is a highly-enjoyable short. The music is beautifully fitting, and the animation is first-rate. The character of Geri (or, at least, one of his characters) is a very likable, bumbling old man.

You can certainly see how Pixar earned themselves an Oscar with this short. Highly recommended.