This short won the Academy Award for Live Action Short. There will be mild spoilers ahead:
This short, in some ways, is a bit predictable, but it's so well made, it doesn't matter that you can figure out what will happen (for the most part, as there are one or two surprises) ahead of time.
Sally Hawkins plays Heather, a crisis hot-line operator. She's shown reading at the start of the short, as she waits to go to work and then seen arriving at work, greeting a co-worker already on a line. The meat of the short begins when she takes a call.
On the line is "John" (actually Stan) who is voiced by Jim Broadbent. Broadbent never appears on camera, being a disembodied voice. His performance is quite good and very convincing. He's a despondent and suicidal man. Heather, of course, tries to get information out of him while trying to get him to change his mind. The bulk of the short consists of Heather talking to "John" and realizing that he's seriously intending on dying and there's nothing she can do about this to prevent it.
During the course of their conversation, the two discover some commonalities and "John" tells her his name is Stan. He finds out she's single and alone, which surprises him and he encourages her to go out more. The two more or less bond in a surprisingly short time.
The ending is very nicely done and a bit surprising. One of the most remarkable things about this short is its cast, given that Broadbent has won an Oscar and Hawkins has been nominated. Their performances are marvelous and the other two performers are quite good as well in smaller roles. The elements are all well done and the short deservedly won the Oscar a few days ago in a good year for shorts.
This short is available for purchase online and is well worth checking out. Most highly recommended.
This short, in some ways, is a bit predictable, but it's so well made, it doesn't matter that you can figure out what will happen (for the most part, as there are one or two surprises) ahead of time.
Sally Hawkins plays Heather, a crisis hot-line operator. She's shown reading at the start of the short, as she waits to go to work and then seen arriving at work, greeting a co-worker already on a line. The meat of the short begins when she takes a call.
On the line is "John" (actually Stan) who is voiced by Jim Broadbent. Broadbent never appears on camera, being a disembodied voice. His performance is quite good and very convincing. He's a despondent and suicidal man. Heather, of course, tries to get information out of him while trying to get him to change his mind. The bulk of the short consists of Heather talking to "John" and realizing that he's seriously intending on dying and there's nothing she can do about this to prevent it.
During the course of their conversation, the two discover some commonalities and "John" tells her his name is Stan. He finds out she's single and alone, which surprises him and he encourages her to go out more. The two more or less bond in a surprisingly short time.
The ending is very nicely done and a bit surprising. One of the most remarkable things about this short is its cast, given that Broadbent has won an Oscar and Hawkins has been nominated. Their performances are marvelous and the other two performers are quite good as well in smaller roles. The elements are all well done and the short deservedly won the Oscar a few days ago in a good year for shorts.
This short is available for purchase online and is well worth checking out. Most highly recommended.