Rated is a comedy short that manages to be exceptional because in addition to being funny, there is a heck of a lot of depth and social commentary hidden within a simple plot. It was my favorite comedy short of the day.
When the film begins, a woman awakens and gets her children ready for the day. However, her young daughter is shocked...so shocked that instead of telling mommy something, she drags her to the mirror to show her. It seems that Mommy has stars that are floating above her head!! And, as Mommy moves, the stars move with her and they won't disappear. It's a neat little special effect and it literally looks like rating stars are hovering above her throughout the movie. It turns out this is true of all the adults...each person has a rating that apparently was generated by some website where folks can rate each other! What's worse is that Daddy has five stars over his head....and Mommy only has two and a half!! He tells her not to worry, but she is panicked and doesn't want to leave the house.
Soon, you see that her fears are not groundless. All the adults at her daughter's school have the stars over their heads and a few of them are quite sanctimonious about this. A few, on the other hand, are surly...and the stars above their heads seem to reflect this! What can Mommy do? And why does she only have two and a half stars? Well, the delightful little actress that plays the daughter gently reminds her that she needs to 'remember her tone'! In other words, if you are nice and treat people well, you would have a higher rating.
What happens next is what takes this from a simple comedy to the next level. Soon, the four and five star folks start feeling superior and mistreating the lower starred folks. After all, these people only have themselves to blame. So what's next in this insightful little film? See it for yourself...I highly recommend you do.
Not only did John Fortson star in this film as the nice husband, it turns out he wrote and directed it as well. Up until now, Fortson has been strictly an actor and while it's hard to believe it, this is his first attempt at writing or directing. Some guys apparently can do it all and he elicited a marvelous performance from his young actress, Abbey Ryder Fortson...who happens to be his daughter. And, incidentally, his wife in the film is also his lovely wife, Christie Lynn Smith and the little boy is also their son! What's he going to do as an encore-- perhaps play ALL the parts and film it at the same time?! Or, is he going to get his family to film, edit and produce it?!
