In God We Trust

I viewed this film yesterday on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Newark. It was used as an opening short preceding the sophomoric comedy Road Trip. I thorougly enjoyed this fast paced short comedy. It was 15 minutes of non stop entertainment. See it if you can!

A man is distracted by a quarter lying on the street, which causes him to get hit by a vehicle and killed. Arriving in purgatory he is shocked to find that his records says he got sufficient negative points during his lifetime to condemn him to Hell – nothing anyone can do, it's the system. A Windows (Purgatory Edition) issue gives the man a chance and he bolts for the elevator, taking his soul back down to his body. Happy to be alive, the man discovers that the admins in Purgatory are now trying to kill him again to return him to his rightful place.

This student short film has a touch of Final Destination about it in the structure but it has more than enough of its own going on. Starting with ha surprisingly well done car accident, the film takes us into the comedic admin of the afterlife before the escape attempt which has various comic attempts to return him to death, while at the same time the man ranks up positive points without even knowing it. Generally it has a nice comic tone and some particularly funny moments, although it must be said that some of the material and delivery could have been tighter and funnier – some jokes are just okay and need a bit of carrying. The film looks and sounds good though and I was impressed by the sharp image and mostly good shooting in locations and external – okay purgatory could have done with a bit more design in there, but it works for what it is.

The acting is mostly good with only some of the weaker jokes showing the cracks – the delivery needed to step up to make them better but it doesn't. Mostly though it is a nicely written and delivered short film which is consistently amusing throughout even if not as perfectly sharp and hilarious as it could have been.

What would happen if you died, and were destined to live the rest of eternal life in hell, on the technicality that not quite enough good deeds had been done to qualify for eternal bliss in the great above? Most likely what the main character in this hilarious short does: RUN LIKE HELL!!!

This film is a fast paced race for survival with a man on a mission to amend his life -- after escaping the halls of judgement -- while a bunch of angels track him down for a kill. In the style of "Run Lola Run" the main character speeds along from destination to destination overcoming obstacles along the way. The plot is much less serious than the aforementioned movie however, and comes up with hilarious scenarios for our hero to deal with.

With great cinematography, accompanying music, and a great sense of humor this is one short not to miss!

You can see it if you like at www.atomfilms.com

We loved this short film. When one of us got AtomFilms hi-def, this was one of the first films we got on it. Simply splendid! We loved it! The little details made the film! Aspiring film makers, take notes! :) The music was brilliant!

Robert dies, goes to purgatory and discovers he is destined for hell(for little things; like he never danced... aside from at a funeral). Robert escapes and gets a bit of a second chance. He starts out scaring the bejeepers out of two paramedics, who -thought- his body was caput, then he heads out to make things right.

This film has an educational quality, too. yeah. We learned that smoothies can help save you from eternal damnation. Good to know.

First saw this at the Toronto Film Festival, and it was great. Better than some two hour features I saw there! This director is a talent to watch, I hope he is already working on a feature. I think you can see this little gem for yourself at atomfilms.com. It was there a few months ago.

I can't tell you too much about the story, cause I don't want to give it away! The actor was in those Doritos commercials, and some other stuff, he's very familiar. The writing is all there, and the acting by (forgive me, I don't know the names) the "purgatorial officer" was hilarious. You could tell that the people making the short were having fun. Well, if they weren't they sure looked it. Try to find this somewhere, you be glad you did.