The Long and Short of It

After I watched this, I had a big smile on my face. It's only about five minutes long, but it brings across an important message that should be around more where I am. It's about when a 'grizzled painters' trying to paste a poster up on the wall, but his ladders broken and he's struggling to get it up properly. Then a 3 1/2 foot tall woman and an 8 foot man help him. Just imagine a place where everybody stretched out there empty hands to help other people. It's inspiring. I love Sean Astin's acting and I hope he goes further with directing. It's exactly like what happened to make this, cast and crew working on the Lord of the Rings giving up their spare time to help. It's great! 10/10

It seems that Sean Astin wound up with some time on his hands while filming the Lord of the Rings, so he decided to make a film of his own. He enlisted Peter Jackson, Director of Lord of the Rings and some other cast and crew members. This is about 5 minutes in length and is a tale of cooperation and collaborative effort...symbiosis, essentially. When a workman has a problem hanging an advertisement, some people of differing sizes lend a hand (unbidden). The result is a properly done job and new friends for the workman. A creditable job by all. Peter Jackson took time out of his busy schedule to be the bus driver.

This is a wonderful little short about cooperation. The direction is great. Sean took a very simple approach, not a lot of angles, just letting the simple story and setting come out. It seems like it was done simply as a fun diversion while filming the epic Lord of the Rings, and illustrating on a small level what all those involved learned. Watch for Peter Jackson's cameo. And be sure to read the credits. Some are just plain funny! All in all, a fun short film, that proves that Sean Astin has the instinct to become a great director, if he wants to.

This is a sweet, compact little film about the way total strangers can impact on each other's lives. Coming in at about four minutes and choreographed to the aria "Che Gelida Manina", it involves a simple but heartfelt story, a touch of humor, and puts forth the notion that everyone can have a role to play in the world -- all they have to do is look for the opportunity. I look forward to more work from Sean behind as well as in front of the camera. LOTR fans will recognize many of the faces here, and for those who have the Two Towers DVD, watch the 'making of' featurette on the short -- it is a riot!

I hope this little film met the criteria for inclusion in the Oscar race -- I would be delighted to cheer this to a win in the spring.

When I saw The long and short of it I was feeling a little bit down but after the screening I felt A lot better. It's this kind of story that gives you A warm feeling inside, and we all can use some more of this. The story itself is simple, and the moral after it is good. It shows that if we all work together we can achieve almost everything. I hope to see more of this kind of movie's.