Review of Borrowed Time

The story is very, very simple…too simple. An older man returns to the place of a tragedy back in the old west and he recalls exactly what happened. He then contemplates killing himself. He nearly does but the sight of an old pocket watch inexplicably saves him. That animation for this film by Andrew Coates and Lou Hamou-Lhadj is probably the best quality about this short film. I am not saying it's extraordinary…in fact it's nice but nothing more. In fact this is my overall feeling….this is not a bad film by any stretch but I am confused why it was nominated. The story needed to be fleshed out more and it all seemed too short and too routine to have been included on this list of best animated shorts.

Of all the nominees this year, it's a rather sub-par lot. Considering how much better "Piper" is than the competition, I would be extremely surprised if "Borrowed Time" took home the Oscar.