The Best Birthday Ever (Short)
“The Best Birthday Ever” is a comedy about a young adult, who acts like a child, as he narrates what his best birthday ever was. The star of the film, Dimpton, is played by the film’s writer and director, Cole Jaeger, and it tracks Dimpton’s day from McDonald’s with his Father, Bo (Timothy J. Cox) to time spent at the park to his party with his father and uncle, Bib (Scott Schuler). I couldn’t help but ask whether Dimpton had genuine, medical issues with his emotional maturity, whether he just played like a child because he wanted to, or whether Jaeger was making a point of how young teens, even when they become adults, still have the maturity of children, and think that the world revolves around them. The cardboard paper flip book used as something of a framing device makes the question feel more necessary to be asked– since the film is barely five minutes long, I get the sense the question isn’t intended, but that I thought of it didn’t help my enjoyment of the film, although it is entertaining on some level. (My favorite line, “I don’t know who Obama is, but I think it’s his fault.”) The more I consider it, though, the more I think the film is intended to be a harmless comedy with a pretty goofy side, and I’m not gonna lie, it is funny when taken in that context. I’ll embed it below so you can figure it out for yourself:
