The Best Birthday Ever – A Short Film Review
This five minute goofball comedy has many traits of political satire hidden beneath it’s layers making the writing of this short film a little more intelligent that it may seem on the surface. Overall a fun and entertaining short.
What’s It All About?
THE BEST BIRTHDAY EVER, written and directed by Cole Jaeger is a comedy about Dimpton, an older teen who acts like a child, who narrates the story of his birthday and the events leading up to his big wish.
My Opinion
I loved the way this short opened using a book created by simple crayon drawings by it’s main character, Dimpton, which gives us three title pages that he reads out each and every time. These child-like drawings give us a great idea of the character of Dimpton and a perfect way to introduce him and his family of Father Bo and Uncle Bib.
Unfortunately being from the UK meant that alot of the political satire was lost on me. Although I did get the references to the Democrats and Republicans, as well as the “Blame Obama” quote during there argument. I feel that not knowing anything about the American political system meant that I missed some of the messages this was trying to give on the political front. However I did get the sense that the bickering between father Bo and Uncle Bib is a relfection of the political parties never ending squabling, all the time ignoring Dimpton who I get the idea is representing the people of America that politiians are supposed to be fighting for.
I enjoyed the chemistry on display here between Timothy J. Cox and Scott Schuler as father and Uncle, their arguments and squabling entertaining to watch. Although a brief short does not give this relationship more time to develop (as is the nature of the beast) I thought it was a fine effort on both their parts.
Writer, director and star Cole Jeager has presented a very intelligent and entertaining short that can be enjoyed on many levels. Although not a negative comment, I do feel like the childish presentation may put some people off, they would be wrong to skip it as it is a very enjoyable short.
Notable Performances
Timothy J Cox played Father Bo. Timothy gives us a solid performance in the role of Dimptons father. His strong acting muscles are flexed as he navigates the political minefield albeit in the form of a father during his sons birthday.
Scott Schuler is every bit as equal to Timothy J. Cox as Uncle Bib. His strong performance as the father is an excellent contrast to Cox.
Cole Jaeger plays Dimpton in a very childish manner and comes across as somewhat of a manchild. I felt as though you were able to tell he enjoyed every bit of playing this part.
The Verdict
This unconventional, querky comedy is exactly the reason why I like short film so much. Something of this kind would never work in any other format other than a short and the unusual presentation and style only adds to its appeal. Overall at a running time of five minutes this is a smart, intelligent and entertaining watch that I would definitely recommend.
