Stutterer

A man who loves words but can't speak them has to finally meet his on-line girlfriend.

That's a set-up for a full length rom-com, yet it takes care of business in just 12 minutes (as I wish most modern rom-coms would). It's a fine example of story-telling with maximum economy. This is what the best of Short Films do and "Stutterer" is one of the best, among this year's Oscar nominees at least (I'd put it a close second to "Day One").

Like a haiku or a sonnet, the short film can serve to distill a subject to it's essence. "Stutterer" is a fine example of the form. Bravo!

This film is about a young man who stutters. His stutter is not a minor stutter but debilitating. He often has difficulty even talking out loud to others and has even pretended to be deaf in order to prevent him having to talk out loud. However, he's had an online relationship with a girl for many months and when she tells him that she's coming to London and wants to see him, he's in a panic. What is he to do? She has no idea that he's a stutterer and he's very apprehensive to writer her back at all. What is he to do?

As a father of a deaf daughter, I found it fascinating watching the main character practicing British Sign Language--a system that is surprisingly very little like American Sign Language. It appeared to be done well...which I appreciate. My biggest reason for not being so enthusiastic about this film isn't because the short is poorly made--it's quite good. But I saw another short this year that was very, very similar except that instead of struggling with stuttering, the main character struggled with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder when going out on a blind date.

UPDATE: It really surprised me but this film took the Oscar.

Wow forget long blockbuster movies but the new thing should be watching Oscar nominated or winner short films. This one was so good. Bravo.

Before watching this film, I went in knowing it won the Oscar in the live-action short film category, so I had pretty high hopes. I was surprised to find that the film was very simple.

It's not bad in any way, but Oscar material? Short films that win Oscar's typically cover topical or important issues, or are very moving. While this film is touching, I wouldn't have given it a win. I do believe it deserved its nomination, but there were certainly better shorts that year. The main actor in this is very good. But good acting doesn't necessarily make a good film. I guess I was just left wanting more. The plot summary is literally the film. Good, but not at such a level it warranted an Oscar win.

Stutterer (2015)

*** (out of 4)

Benjamin Cleary wrote and directed this tender short, which picked up a Best Short Oscar nomination. A man named Greenwood (Matthew Needham) has been having an online relationship with a woman named Ellie (Chloe Pirrie) but things take a turn for him when she asks to meet him in person. The thing is that Greenwood has a major stuttering problem, which he fears might cost him a chance at a real relationship with the woman.

STUTTERER certainly wasn't the best nominated short that I saw but there's no question that it has a rather tender story as well as a very touching ending that I certainly won't spoil here. I thought director Cleary did a very good job at building out the story and I thought it was extremely well-made. I liked the laid back nature of the picture and I thought the story was rather clever in the way that it eventually played out.