God of Love (Short 2010)

God of Love (Short 2010). 18m

“u0026#39;GOD OF LOVEu0026#39;: Four and a Half Stars (Out of Five)u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis 18 minute black and white short film won the Academy Award last year (2010) for best Live Action Short. It was written and directed by Luke Matheny. Matheny stars in the film as well. He shot the film on the Red One camera (very effectively) with director of photography Bobby Webster. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn the film Matheny plays an expert dart thrower and lounge singer named Raymond whou0026#39;s in love with a girl in his band named Kelly (Marian Brock). Kelly has strong romantic feelings for Rayu0026#39;s best friend Fozzie (Christopher Hirsh) though, who wonu0026#39;t go near her due to u0026#39;friend codeu0026#39;. Ray prays before every show for God to show him a way to win over Kellyu0026#39;s affections. His prayers are answered one day (or so he thinks) when someone drops off a box of darts with magical u0026#39;love potionu0026#39; powers. The trick is they only work for six hours so Ray must find a way to earn Kellyu0026#39;s u0026#39;true loveu0026#39; in that time. u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe movie is quirky and charming and magically upbeat. It doesnu0026#39;t play down itu0026#39;s true message though and skimp out for cheap and clichéd effect. In that way the movie is especially strong. The performances are all great (especially Matheny) and the dialogue sharp and witty. The black and white is a nice effect and the cinematography is beautiful as well. Itu0026#39;s hard to rate a film so short, as with all short films (itu0026#39;s not even the running length of a half hour sitcom), but taking that into account Iu0026#39;d have to say itu0026#39;s one of the better live action shorts Iu0026#39;ve ever seen. Very nicely done!u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eWatch our review show u0026#39;MOVIE TALKu0026#39; at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0rzBIHq5e3E”