Review: Oscar-nominated live-action shorts
Please note: This article is published as an archive copy from Philadelphia City Paper. My City Paper is not affiliated with Philadelphia City Paper. Philadelphia City Paper was an alternative weekly newspaper in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The last edition was published on October 8, 2015.
[Grade: B-] Among the nominees, two entries are hit and miss.
Still from 'Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?'
City Paper grade: B-
Among the nominees, two entries are hit and miss. Helium, a Danish short about a dying child, is a clunky mix of earnestness and whimsy. The Voorman Problem features celebrity talent — Martin Freeman as a psychiatrist and Tom Hollander, nicely playing against type as a possibly delusional prisoner — but the unsurprising twist yields no great payoff. The dramatic entries are better. That Wasn’t Me addresses the rescue of child soldiers in Africa. However, this slickly made short overreaches, especially during its melodramatic moments. Just Before Losing Everything is easily the program’s best, a tense and gripping drama about an abused mother (Léa Drucker in an Oscar-worthy performance) planning her escape. But Oscar voters tend to choose comedy shorts; Do I Have to Take Care of Everything?, the hilarious screwball about a family encountering setbacks on their way to a wedding, will likely take the prize.
