Shorts (2008) Reviews

• Give it a break, the kids will have fun with this..

  GirishGowda2010-04-03

  Eleven-year-old Toe finds life a bag full of troubles. Till he discovers a make-a-wish rock that turns out to be the solution to all his troubles. Also, the reason for a suburban town's troubles. The movie is divided into six, jumbled up episodes and its bursting with special effects. SHORTS is far from entertaining. Staring contests, giant dung beetles, aliens and walking crocodiles - Rodriguez crams them all into the 90-minute film about needing to be careful what you wish for - literally. Director Robert Rodriguez has tried very hard to sustain the interest of young viewers by keeping scene durations short and gags long. I watched this movie along with my 12 year old cousin and he looked happy. I found it interesting in parts, like the opening scene between the brother and sister challenging each other as to who could resist blinking longer than the other. Helevetica Black played by Jolie Vanier is the only kid who showed any potential. She could be a good actress in the future. The adults don't really have much part to play in this. Jon Cryer and Leslie Mann who play Toe Thompson's parents have a very funny scene where they both wish to be closer to each other and are merged together to the hip. This is a spoof or nod to the Hindu god and goddess, Shiva and Parvathi. These gods believe in equality in every aspect of their existence and Shiva merges into Parvathi to prove that man and woman are equal. That form is called 'Ardha-Naareeshwara'. I liked that a lot. I'll be generous in my view and give this movie a 6 because it is a movie made for kids. 10 year olds & younger will really enjoy this and will have lots to talk about in school after watching this. It is a good age to think magic is real and everything they wish will come true because of a rock. Hey, I thought Aladdin's lamp and Hogwarts were real when I was younger..! 6/10

  More

• Ask kids, not adults!

  neil-4762009-08-26

  Shorts is a kids' film by Robert Rodriguez. Like his friend and oft-times collaborator Tarantino, Rodriguez makes the films he wants in the way he wants and serves no master save himself as regards expectations. Shorts is such a film. The story is simple - a wishing stone turns up, kids and others make wishes, mayhem ensues, people learn lessons. The telling of it is less simple - told in often non-linear flashback, the structure of the movie is more than a little messy. When taken into account along with assorted poo and snot sequences, the telltale influence of the younger members of Rodriguez' family looms into view: as with Sharkboy and Lavagirl, Rodriguez incorporates creative input from his kids on the grounds that they probably know best what kids like. And you know what? He's probably right. To me, as an adult, this movie often struck me as if the kids were handed the camera and told to go off and film what they want, and what resulted then got state of the art CGI plastered over it - this didn't disguise the lack of maturity in the source material and structure, it simply made it look slicker. But perhaps I'm simply not the best person to judge because it seemed to me that the kids in the cinema were loving it. And it was interesting to see William H Macy, James Spader and Leslie Mann taking part in something like this. Newcomer Jolie Vanier has a big future ahead of her - she has a strong screen presence. Shorts is a chaotic mess, but has a gawky charm of its own.

  More

• An excellent family film

  Argemaluco2009-09-11

  After the atrocious family films Spy Kids 3D : Game Over and The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl, I was not interested in watching Shorts, another independent family film directed by Robert Rodriguez.However, a look at the cast revealed the presence of some competent actors (James Spader, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann and Kat Dennings), so I decided to risk myself and watch this movie.To my huge surprise, Shorts resulted to be an excellent family film which is likable and hugely entertaining, thanks to the skillful performances from the young cast and Rodriguez's irreverent screenplay. At setting the movie on a real environment (instead of the artificial digital universe), Rodriguez did not require of big excesses for telling the story.The special effects look realistic, but they do not loose Rodriguez's characteristic surrealism on them.Shorts may not be his best family movie (I liked the original Spy Kids a bit more), but it is the one which mostly represents the naughty childish imagination, which is funny and innocent but not lacking of some subversion. All the performances from this movie show a lot of energy and enthusiasm, but the movie rests on the shoulders of the childish cast with excellent results.The phenomenal discovery of Jolie Vanier is particularly remarkable.She reminded me thanks to her histrionic force and great presence of Christina Ricci on her juvenile roles. With the exception of Up, Shorts is the best family film I have seen this year.I ended up taking a great surprise with this great family movie, and I recommend it as an excellent option for the whole family.

  More

• Good natured fun

  MartianOctocretr52009-08-23

  Shorts is amusing and doesn't take itself seriously at all. It resembles Malcolm in the Middle, with the central kid's narration, the high-speed montages, and exaggeratedly eccentric characters. The plot winds around a strange rainbow-colored rock that grants wishes. Inevitable, this results as you would expect, with carelessly thought out wishes backfiring for some good-natured slapstick comedy. The actors make a pretty good ensemble cast, and seem to be enjoying making the film, but I think they know there won't be a lot of Oscars handed out for this movie. The montages are used as a buffer between scenes. They simulate video camera rewinding, or the kid's confused memory right after eating too much sugary cereal--I'm not sure. But I do think they're used too much, making them distracting. The story is told in non-linear style, jumping from the present to flashbacks and back again, but this seems more of an unnecessary gimmick that really doesn't help tell the story. The adult characters are nutty and over the top, but the actors faithfully go for the silliness and do adequately. The child actors do well too, especially newcomer Jolie Vanier, as the bitter rich girl bully. She has one of the few characters with enough dimension (albeit comically exaggerated) to logically evolve throughout the story, and plays the role to the hilt. Her facial expressions are hilarious, and dominate every scene she's in. This actress has a promising future. What the movie makers were wishing for was a simple kids' comedy, and that's just what this film is, no more--no less. It's all just some good clean fun, clowning around for its own sake.

  More

• A family film with good imagination

  bearfaceproductions2009-08-16

  OK, so I do not like movies like this. But I have to say that this movie was kinda fun, and it had an original plot that is something that kids really want to see. Good clean comedy comes out of this movie every once and a while. A good laugh can be expected from this film. I gotta say that the creator had a really good imagination when making this movie, he really knows what kids would really wish for. The kids acting was fair. On the other hand the adults become a little stupid. The special effects looked a little cheap. And sometimes the imaginative stuff goes a little to far. But I only recommend it for kids 9 and younger. They are sure to enjoy this film and have a thrill. But teens and adults may find this movie to be not so good, because since its meant to be only for kids, people over the age of 13 might find this movie to be way too childish. But it is somewhat fun. This is an ordinary family/kids movie which is slightly a little good as any other.

  More