We have all talked to ourselves in order to amp up our own confidence. Sometimes we do it in the mirror or in the car when we are en route to an anxious situation. What happens, though, when life doesn’t take such precautions with out feelings and throws a wrench into our careful plotting? Or, in the case of Blake Rice’s relatable and charming short film, a bee sting?
Michael Gandolfini’s character rehearses to a video camera how he wants to ask out the girl of his dreams. He’s on break at his electronic store job, and his voice is gentle and kind as he wagers every path in this imaginary conversation. ‘I’ve been feeling invisible lately…forever…’ he stammers before the object of his affection stumbles out into this loading dock area to take out the garbage and have a smoke. One thing happens before she makes her appearance in the form of a pissed off bee that stings our hero’s neck.
There is an idealism at play here–a hopeful empathy. Set in 1998, Rice’s film forces these characters to speak face-to-face as Gandolfini needs medical attention in his first interaction with his crush. This bee is the cruelest of cupids when the hunt for an EpiPen is a frantic one. I loved how the cinematography leans into the burning sun as if it was creating another obstacle in squinting at the one you want to ask out on a date.
Even if you plan to say the right words (Gandolfini’s character even rehearses rejection), life gets in the way. Maybe Rice’s film is secretly telling us that life will always intevene and we need to expect the unexpected. His film is a charming middle finger to every “plausible” meet-cute of the last thirty years.
