I Love Sarah Jane (2008)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Spencer Susser

Writers:

David Michôd (writer)
Spencer Susser (writer)

Genre:

Short

Plot:

Jimbo is 13 and can think of only one girl -- Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way-bullies, violence, chaos, or zombies-nothing will stop him from finding a way into her world.

Awards:

3 wins

Cast

Brad Ashby	...	Jimbo
Mia Wasikowska	...	Sarah Jane
Vladimir Matovic	...	Joey
Beau South	...	Rory
Peter Yacoub	...	Gram
Richard Mueck	...	Zombie
Anton Enus	...	Newsreader

Runtime:

14 min

Country:

Australia

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Company:

Aquarius Films

Soundtrack:

Like A Lollipop In A Candy Store

Opportunity lost....

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

This short film is like THE LORD OF THE FLIES meets OMEGA MAN....with lots and lots and lots of cussing. The film begins with a 13 year-old kid on a bicycle riding through a town where the homes are mostly destroyed, bodies lie in the road torn apart and burned out hulks of cars are strewn about the road. Some sort of apocalyptic event has obviously occurred and soon you see that a zombie plague has destroyed society--leaving some kids but no adults. And, like THE LORD OF THE FLIES, the kids mostly do nothing productive. One loathsome teen spends his time torturing a zombie who is chained up and the rest just stand back and watch. However, the boy at the beginning of the film goes in the house and tries to strike up a conversation with a young lady. After an awkward attempt at conversation, the two go outside to see the bully blowing up the zombie--but, of course, this backfires and results in a rather grisly ending.

While there are lots of cool elements to the film and it sure could have been great, the overall production had me feeling like the whole thing was a definite miss. Despite great zombie special effects and some interesting plot elements, seeing nasty teens curse non-stop like drunken sailors isn't my idea of entertainment. Sure, in such an awful world, it would be understandable to have some cursing (heck, if I saw a zombie I'd surely let out an amazing torrent of epithets)--but to have practically every other word be "f-this" and "f-that" gets very old and shows a lack of discipline or respect for the audience (unless you only want to appeal to a minority of the viewers). Why in recent years independent film makers feel that dialog like this is "edgy" or "hip" is beyond me--it just shows a lack of imagination. And this is a terrible shame, because it's obvious there were some great ideas and execution in this film. Clearly an opportunity lost for greatness.