Sky's the Limit (2013): Indie Short Subject

Sky's the Limit (2013) - Clocking in at 7 1/2 minutes this is not going to be a time waster for anyone. April Schroer is the writer and director of this lighthearted short film set on one afternoon in the life of a widower and his young son. It contrasts the needs of the father to fill an emptiness in his life with essentially the same need of the son. The difference being the father is filling that emptiness by dating while his son feels left out and desires to get more of his father's attention.

My initial reaction to this short is wondering where the conclusion was. Of course being a short subject there doesn't really need to be one to tell its story. This is a slice of life and in that respect it succeeds. This is also a short subject that strikes me as an experimental film which only seeks to tell its story in a competent presentation, and in that respect it succeeds as well.

The strength for me is Timothy J. Cox's performance as the father. He tells a far greater story with his expressions and body language than is in the dialogue. Joseph Di Stefano as a young actor playing the son gives a conflicting performance, and that's a good thing. He comes off as bratty in his behavior, realistically portraying a child wanting the attention of his father more than the too often saccharine sweet portrayals of children in TV shows who have a Thomas Aquinas level of understanding of their inner feelings.

Despite these strong performances and an obviously well written script from which they could work, I still felt shorted. Maybe there's a follow-up story? An additional bug with the story is that there is no definitive designation of the father as a widower. He tells his son his mother is no longer here and looks longingly at a wedding photo of them, so it is implied but not stated; and I frankly took my cue from the description on IMDB and other reviews.

I give it 2 1/2 Daggers. At only 7 1/2 minutes it is worthwhile to see the work of this young director and these two fine performances.

Availability

You can watch the entire short film on YouTube