Drop Box

Comparisons have been made to Kevin Smith’s Clerks but I think this is unfair. This film stands up very well on its own.

The basic premise is that a very successful singer, Mindy (Rachel Sehl) has dropped the homemade video of herself having sex with a guy and another girl into the drop box for rental movies at her local video store and is now trying to get it back. However, she reckons without the jaded cynicism and quick wits of Tom, the store manager, (David Cormican) who realises something fishy is going on and makes her work hard to get her video back.

Despite the obvious question mark over a muli-millionairess singer making a movie on VHS and returning it to a store that appears to be in a pretty rough part of town, the film is always engaging. This is in great part due to the two leads, because despite being inexperienced actors they make the most of their debuts and manage to create a crackling charisma on screen. Their screen partnership is really what makes this film, because there are equally inexperienced actors in supporting roles who are not as convincing. That being said, they clearly relish their roles as the misfits who come to the store.

The charm of the movie lies in the fact that it is well written, acted and filmed, despite being shot in a single tiny, squashed location – the video store. The film also weaves its magic as we see the characters develop. At the beginning of the film we see Tom as Mindy sees him - a real jerk - and Mindy as Tom sees her - a short-tempered diva used to getting her own way. But as the plot thickens it dawns on us that whilst Tom may be a cruel and judgmental cynic, he is something of a moralist and that Mindy is so much a victim of her own success that she has forgotten what truly matters.

Drop Box is undeniably a low budget film but it really deserves to be seen in cinemas outside its native Canada. The script is witty and funny, the single location used could have proved a limitation, but instead gives a strength and cohesion to the film and the two leading actors make you want to watch. I do hope that this film proves sufficient to land its writers/directors a bigger budget for their next movie. It would be well deserved. This peach of a film plays to its strengths, simple comedy, well conveyed. What more really could you ask? An unexpected delight.