The short film No Cigar sees a young man (Max) targeted by a biker gang for debts that his late father had to them. Luckily for Max, his fiancé's father is a former gangster Teddy - better known as "Cigar" for his penchant for setting his victims alight while still alive. In an attempt to get Max out of his troubles, Teddy finds himself drawn back into his former life.
I watch a lot of short films thanks to how readily available they are now online, and how strong my OCD is to try to watch all of them; this normally reveals that, while some shorts are awful and some are brilliant, there is a lot that falls in the middle of being okay but unremarkable. Knowing this it is hard to dislike films that are very workmanlike in approach, and tend to do the basics well even if they lack anything to really get excited about. No Cigar is one such film. The story is pretty nuts and bolts basic; we get introduction to the characters, get knowledge that someone has died, and then we build to the action. There are some nice touches to try to build tension but generally it really feels like IKEA furniture being built – all the pieces fit together and it does the job, but nobody is really excited by it for what it is. This can be seen in the writing, which lacks complexity, and then by knock-on, in the performances, which are very much in their moment rather than feeling like they have deep character understanding.
The film was very low budget, and made mostly off donations, but it does look pretty good – some decent effects shots when they come. Sound is also good (a bugbear of mine, too many shorts think they can cut this out) and generally the film comes over better than you would expect with the resources involved. Still though, it is all very workmanlike and doesn't get beyond that level for the most part.
I watch a lot of short films thanks to how readily available they are now online, and how strong my OCD is to try to watch all of them; this normally reveals that, while some shorts are awful and some are brilliant, there is a lot that falls in the middle of being okay but unremarkable. Knowing this it is hard to dislike films that are very workmanlike in approach, and tend to do the basics well even if they lack anything to really get excited about. No Cigar is one such film. The story is pretty nuts and bolts basic; we get introduction to the characters, get knowledge that someone has died, and then we build to the action. There are some nice touches to try to build tension but generally it really feels like IKEA furniture being built – all the pieces fit together and it does the job, but nobody is really excited by it for what it is. This can be seen in the writing, which lacks complexity, and then by knock-on, in the performances, which are very much in their moment rather than feeling like they have deep character understanding.
The film was very low budget, and made mostly off donations, but it does look pretty good – some decent effects shots when they come. Sound is also good (a bugbear of mine, too many shorts think they can cut this out) and generally the film comes over better than you would expect with the resources involved. Still though, it is all very workmanlike and doesn't get beyond that level for the most part.