Love & Other Lies – A Short Film Review
‘Love & Other Lies’ is a short romantic drama about a man stuck in a love triangle. This short film has a decent story and some good performances but is let down by technical issues.
What’s It All About?
Jerry Bensen is an unsuccessful artist who is stuck in a loveless marriage with a high-powered attorney. He has a Latina lover whom he’s been seeing for two years on the side. When his lover discovers he has to take pills for his erections, she becomes upset and accuses him of lying which pushes him to confess the real lie he’s been keeping from her; he has a wife.
My Opinion
The short opened with a fantastic sequence that I really enjoyed. The opening credits were great with sped-up scenes of Jerry with his wife, and also with Salina. This was a nice introduction to the characters and gave us an idea as to what to expect from this short film.
The real issue with this film was the scenes between Jerry and Salina. The directors notes indicate the team had problems recording the sound and issues while editing. These problems are always frustrating and I really feel for the team behind this. I commend them for continuing with the project and working through these problems to deliver a finished product.
One or two shakey-camera moments and jumps crop up during the Jerry and Salina scenes. It takes the audience out of the picture for just a few moments when these editing hiccups occur but because the rest of the film is made to a much higher standard it makes these moments stand out.
Taking into account the problems that the team had with these scenes it may have been better to completely re-shoot these. Unfortunately short films like this are always restricted to time and budget which make suggestions like this impossible or impractical to complete. It is a shame as I think if these scenes had been corrected I would have improved the short.
Getting away from these moments to the final third of the movie and we are given a much more professional look and feel. The steady camera and the audible sound pull us right back in to the story for its conclusion.
Writer and director Jacqui Blue gave us a solid story about three people stuck in a love triangle. The successful wife, the unhappy husband and the unknowing mistress are all characters we have seen before but they are presented in a slightly different light. The older husband with the younger mistress present us with real issues a relationship such as this faces, as well as this conflicting character having his own issues has with his wife. I enjoyed the story and the direction it takes as it progresses leaving us with a satisfactory ending.
Jacqui definitely has talent as a writer and that is on full display here. I think writers who direct their own stories always bring a different level of passion to their project and have a clear vision of what they want.
Another highlight for this short was the soundtrack. The music perfectly suited the film and complimented what was shown on-screen. The score definitely helped to enhance the story.
Notable Cast
Jacqueline Bustamante played Salina, Jerry’s mistress. I thought Jacqueline did a brilliant job in her role. She really filled the character with fiery emotion and it played out very well on-screen. Despite the technical issues she comes across very well in a fine performance.
Michelle Arthur played Laura Benson, Jerry’s husband. I liked Michelle as the successful wife and really enjoyed her scene with Jerry at the dinner table. The way she threw away his affair was performed very well and the way she laughed off ‘love’, even though you did not see her face at the time her voice did all the work. Another great performance.
Jeff Vernan played Jerry Benson. Jeff had to play a character struggling with a lot of conflict within himself. He had fallen in love with another woman but he was still with his wife. Jeff was great as the character and went through a whole host of emotions on-screen.
The Verdict
I enjoyed this short film but it did suffer from one or two technical issues, however the team have done an excellent job to overcome these and working within the limited resources available. Jacqui Blue has given us a great story played out by a strong cast and helped along by an excellent score. I would certainly be interested in seeing more of what Jacqui can offer as a writer and director.
