Check Please! (Short)
I watched a horror short film from writer/director Chad Meisenheimer earlier this year, and while horror is a genre he has a good feel for, I think comedy is his first love. “Check Please!” is all about humor, and like all comedy, it’s subjective. I enjoyed it, but I can’t say I liked it as much as his horror short, “Nite Nite.” It’s a good comedy scene, but I’m not sure if it was my cup of tea comedically, either. It’s all good, because it’s well structured and performed.
It’s the morning after a one night stand for Adam (Shane Ryan) and Steve (Chad Meisenheimer), and they’re having coffee. Adam is a bit more quiet in his demeanor, while Steve is louder, not just in his way of speaking, but his dress, which, as he cracks wise, looks like he ate Tom Selleck. The two are talking about what led Steve to accept this blind date, and it’s intriguing, because Steve insists he is not gay. You wouldn’t know it hearing him talk, and Adam is, rightly, having a hard time digesting it.
I think it’s the archetype of the character Meisenheimer is playing here that I’m not a huge fan of, and that’s why “Check Please!” isn’t quite working as well for me. Steve is the kind of guy I cannot imagine anyone really wanting to have anything to do with, personality-wise, and it doesn’t quite work for me. That being said, that’s part of why it’s funny, and seeing Ryan’s Adam react to it and question pretty much everything Steve is asserting is amusing. Writing this review, thinking back about the film, I am enjoying what Meisenheimer came up with more and more, realizing that I probably enjoy this film more than I initially did watching it. It’s funny how, sometimes, an evolution of thought about a movie can happen while discussing it, and you realize your true feelings about it by accident. I still enjoy “Nite Nite” a touch more, but “Check Please!” has some good laughs in it, if you’re interested.
