User Reviews

A hilarious short film that bullets by in no time. I only wish it was longer. I think the little dream scenes might feel a little dated now, even though they seemed to get the most riotous laughter when i saw it on the big screen. Keep an eye out for this director!

A hideously amateur short film with almost no redeeming features, The Fiver Thing isn't even worth filling seven minutes of your life with. The cheap look to the film is excusable - it is, after all, only a short British film. What isn't excusable is the incredibly bad acting, the ridiculous plot, the obvious direction, and the plain stupid dialogue. And let's not forget the pointless "fantasy scenes", which mostly bear no relation to the plot (if you can call it that). The only worthwhile moment of this whole sorry episode is the very beginning, which lures you into the false hope that something good might come of this.

Please, save yourself seven minutes of your life by avoiding this. No-one should have to face this ever again. Just ignore it and it might go away.

made on a shoestring budget the fiver thing is a tightly constructed comedy short.

Simon Ellis is an up and coming new director, making waves with a string of shorts and promos that display skilled editing, innovative narrative techniques and is surely one to watch.

With his fun experiment in text, telling lies, appearing on the hit DVD collection, Cinema 16, along side the works of Ridley Scott and others, it wont be long before we are queuing up outside movie theaters to see his first feature.

'The fiver thing', shot on DV and with a local (Nottingham) cast of superb character actors, tells the story of friends falling out over money, the 'fiver thing' of the title.

A subversive take on The Treasure of the Sierra Madre, perhaps, but, in my book... one to watch!

Nottingham is where the most cutting-edge DV filmmaking is being made today - no film school pretensions, no 35mm cameras blagged from London facilities houses for that 'professional' look - instead, as with The Fiver Thing, a highly stylised approach to what the rest of the country lazily brackets as 'regional' filmmaking. Using local actors and working on a budget of tuppence, Ellis makes a neat, accomplished short about trust, friendship and those people you wish you didn't know. Snappy editing, kinetic camera work and great post-production effects mark this short out and showcase Ellis's multiple talents. Definitely one to watch.

A man chases another down the road where one is hit by a passing bus. Recovering in his house the other man arrives where they make up. However a fight ensues again over the issue of money, in particular the issue of a unreturned fiver.

This short opens like train spotting - with a chase through the streets. However in every sense that's where the comparisons end. This is meant to be a comedy of sorts but it isn't funny. Instead we have an overuse of swear words in place of clever or funny dialogue, and totally unlikeable and confused characters. Sorry but it doesn't work.

The direction is good despite the material. I liked the use of yellowed film to give an old-fashioned feel at times - however the comedic effect I suspect this was meant to create wasn't there. The actors are OK despite their unpleasant characters - but didn't anyone want to give them some personality? Clearly someone thought having them swear every other word would be enough.

Overall this is just watchable..it isn't funny and it is from the school of thought that having everyone swear regularly will cover any weaknesses and make it appeal to the `youf' market. Pointless.