Keith Reynolds Can't Make It Tonight

Keith Reynolds Can't Make It Tonight is a very funny piece of moviemaking.

It is a polished and effective stickman vector graphics animated film about a miserable, perpetually run-down businessman who, at a moment of optimum stress and weakness murders his business and amorous rival, and his efforts to maintain face. Who doesn't go through these half-homicidal dreams when a rival or colleague consistently and irritatingly one-ups you in every way you give a damn about? The film is an examination of these kinds of terrible fantasies and how decisions made under emotional stress can never be as assured as those made with objectivity and experience.

The hilarious monotone voiceover detailing his every thought is as dry as a bone, and the animation is exquisitely timed against this for terrific comic impact. Its dry sense of humour calls to mind movies such as Fargo and American Psycho, in its story of terrible things made accessible and human through simple satire.

Short, sweet and highly entertaining - a promising short by Felix Massie.