4 stars out of 5
You know the drill: You go to the movie theater and then have to sit through a ton of commercials. Well, I purposely went to see a movie about a commercial, and I’m totally glad I did.
The live-action short Local Commercial was screening as part of the 2013 Manhattan Film Festival. It had previously been selected for the Boston International Film Festival, where it picked up the award for “Best Director of a Short” for Richard Dobbs. He co-wrote Local Commercial with Didi Dobbs (his wife) and Richard Walsh (who he shares a first name with).
The filmmakers have clearly paid their dues on some low-budget productions, because the behind-the-scenes world on display here absolutely rings true. But instead of being an overly cynical portrayal, it’s done with obvious affection and really sharp humor. Vin John (played by the likable Mark Graham) is the beleaguered director tapped for a commercial. Vin navigates his way through the increasingly frustrating cast and crew. There’s the producer who doesn’t have a single opinion of her own (and is shadowed by “her lover Zorro” who has an 8×10 glossy at the ready), the writer who has a screenplay he’d really like you to take a look at, and over-emoting actors with unshakeable delusions of grandeur.
In fact, every character here seems to wish they were working on something “bigger”—except for Earl T. Barnum. He’s the cantankerous, blowhard, prima-donna personal injury lawyer who happens to be the subject of this particular commercial. (In a very clever twist, the “injuries” in question are all about getting your feelings hurt.) And Barnum couldn’t be happier with who he is. John Ratzenberger has a blast with the role, doing a 180 from his days as mild-mannered Cliff Clavin on Cheers. TV fans will also recognize veteran character-actor Frank Converse, who plays one of the commercial’s over-the-top “actors” opposite the very funny (and aforementioned) Didi Dobbs. Converse gets to deliver one of the film’s best lines to her: “Darling, you’re dropping your G’s; your Bridgeport is showing.” One of the other writers, Richard Walsh, is hilarious as the deer-in-the-headlights scribe Guilles, who must think he’s at the Globe Theatre rather than a rented soundstage in southwest Connecticut.
In less than 20 minutes, Local Commercial skewers pomposity, our litigious lifestyle, YouTube youth culture (a 14-year-old video “auteur” breathes down Vin’s neck during the entire production), and of course, the bizarro world of local advertising. I’m always pleasantly surprised that, no matter how much technology advances, the regional spots airing on cable channels always look so wonderfully chintzy. Not this movie, though—it looks great. With crisp direction, insightful writing, and laugh-filled performances, this is one Local Commercial you won’t want to fast-forward through.
Jack Silbert, curator