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Overall, Alex
Masterson’s short horror comedy is not a perfect production, but in the
end, I rather enjoyed what the man has to say not only about fanaticism,
but also about the domino effect the bootlegging industry is having on
filmmaking and film lovers in general. Though slightly flawed in its
product, “Mr. Video” is a satire, and a rather intelligent one at that,
about Mr. Video, a local small video store owner who refuses to adapt to
DVD, even in spite of being on the brink of bankruptcy. Imagine “Clerks”
if written by Sam Raimi in his horror glory days, and what’d you get is
a pretty interesting and rather understated short horror about a man who
will do anything to protect his business, and a movie buff who’d do
anything to protect the hobby he holds dear. The real reason to see “Mr.
Video” aside from the brilliant concept is because of Gary Holt is just
the unsuspecting anti-hero here who is, without a doubt, a psychotic
film lover, but also one who is a hero working in favor of the medium he
loves dear and views his after dark misdeeds justified because, hey,
he’s targeting bootleggers, and it’s for the good of film.
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Though he
easily could have been a pathetic loser or menacing villain,
Holt’s performance gives Mr. Video a genuine humanity as a
man whose been driven to the brink of madness now with the
introduction of the DVD format that he just can’t afford and
customers who undermine his business to see bootlegs of
movies thus keeping him from earning any real profits. |
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What won me over
about this production is Masterson and co-writer John Gray composes the
first half of “Mr. Video” like an everyman comedy. Here’s a man who is
still faithful to VHS, here’s a man who can’t afford to switch to DVD,
and here’s a man who will go to shocking lengths to make money and
protect his love for movies, which gives the tonal shift the perfect
opportunity for Will to completely unleash his rage on an obnoxious
customer who dashes his attempts to sell a customer on renting a movie
by admitting he’d seen a bootleg. The final monologue with Mr. Video
venting his frustrations about this impatient society ruining film for
everyone by buying cheap bootlegs is startling in its truths, and
Masterson delivers it with a tongue in cheek morbidity that makes you
gasp in surprise, but also leave you with something to think about.
Watching bootlegs may not hurt the wealthy elite at the top of the food
chain, but it will definitely hurt someone like Will looking just to get
by in the world, but can’t thanks to bootleggers and pirates. It’s what
gives “Mr. Video” a definite shelf life.
I look forward to
seeing what Masterson can do with a feature length film with a larger
scale story, because “Mr. Video” looks like definite evidence of someone
who can provide great human characters. It’s a dark and sick short
horror comedy, and I enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
- Mr. Video is an
actual rental store in London run by co-writer John Gray.
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