Review by: Bill Gibron of Filmcritic.com
Director: Robert Rodriguez
Producers: Robert Rodriguez, Elizabeth Avellán
Screenwriter: Robert Rodriguez
Actors: William H. Macy, James Spader, Jon Cryer, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leslie Mann
MPAA Rating: PG
FilmCritic Rating = 2.5 out of 5.0 Stars
Robert Rodriguez is a true commercial schizophrenic. Whenever he steps behind the camera, you’re not sure which version of the indie maverick you’re going to get — the genre-loving film geek who plunders the schlock and B-movie pantheon for his inspiration, or the devoted dad who wants to craft kid-vid fare that doesn’t talk down to the demographic. It’s either Spy Kids or Planet Terror. With Shorts we get the paternal side. This hyperactive pixie stick smashed onto celluloid finds the residents of a small Texas corporate community dealing with a mysterious object, a tyrannical CEO, and the over-the-top juvenilia both can — and will — create.
Our narrator is little Toby Thompson (Jimmy Bennett) whose parents (Leslie Mann, Jon Cryer) work for the Black Box corporation, makers of a multi-functional PDA-like device. Their boss is the egomaniacal Mr. Black (James Spader), who has two little hellspawn of his own — bullies Cole (Devon Gearhart) and Helvetica (Jolie Vanier). Constantly picked on at school, one day Toby finds a rainbow-colored rock that appears to grant wishes. Before long, we see how said stone affects the lives of neighbors Nose (Jake Short), Dr. Noseworthy (William H. Macy), brothers Lug (Rebel Rodriguez), Laser (Leo Howard), and Loogie (Trevor Gagnon), as well as his own sister Stacey (Kat Dennings). But when Mr. Black himself sees what the object can do, he must have it for his very own.
Read the full review by Bill Gibron’s at FilmCritic.com.
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