If you're here, chances are that Joseph Gordon-Levitt's name attached to it was the main attraction that brought you to this strangely simplistic short film. It tells
the story of a busy father (Jacob Vargas) who finds means and ways to watch the final volleyball match his daughter Sophia (Vico Escorcia) is one of the players. Joseph plays
a security guard suspicious of the father's presence in the school which escalate into a tense situation. Sorry to disappoint but he plays a prejudicial guard instead of some
cheerful or heroic role.
The goods, first: it was an okay movie, passable and watchable if you don't have anything better to do or you have a quick work/school break since it's just seven
minutes long. It's well acted by the cast and judging by the final credits they all had a great fun time together. One of those cliched stories of children depending on
their parents to act well while doing sports and parents making the ultimate sacrifice to support and cheer for their children. It's one a worn out Hollywood cliched that
makes me wonder if kids or pre-teens for that matter are really that susceptible or so depending on other people's presence - I know I wasn't all that much.
The weird or the downer side: the racist theme had to be used here as a force of the nature or the world that prevents the dad from seeing the game - wow, what a lame
device. But on the other hand I also wonder: why the father felt so comfortable inside of the school to the point of removing his working clothes and just go there wearing
a wife beater which exposed his tattoos and then he was confused as a gang member? I know, not an excuse neither a valid justification for the guard but...warning on both
sides of the aisle.
And like the previous reviewer I find a mystery that eight screenwriters (you read that right), eight folks wrote this piece. Let's break down some possible facts: a script
written by eight people, sixteen hands to compose a ridiculously short film that last seven minutes without any original idea in between, zero news. One person alone couldn't
handle the task? I'd like to imagine that this was one of those school projects where the teacher assigns to the whole class to compose one unique story where the twists and
turns are tailored by each hand that comes across the previous notes. It's all about passing forward and think positively that the ending will make some sense after the confusion
created by the students in between. And as for Joe's presence on a short written by eight people, it makes me mad at his good friend Rian Johnson. The man can write amazing and
complex scripts by himself, he always casts Joe on his films but sometimes you can't find JLG at all (voice work in the "Knives Out" franchise) or either it's a blink and miss
cameo like in "The Brothers Bloom". Here, he gets the center stage for one sequence with one biased character. Oh man, that was sad but it goes to show that he can stretch a little
bit and play a character we don't like, which is the total opposite of his other loveable characters.
It's okay, it's fine but don't expect to get anything so enlightning or new in return. It's pretty manageable and ok, the kids have a funny moment early on. 6/10.
