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 Drop Box, the feature-length film from up-and-coming Canadian directing team Anesty and Spiros Carasoulos, takes a refreshingly new take on a somewhat predictable theme: the wrong tape gets returned to the video store and, surprise surprise, it contains some rather compromising footage of the previous renter. Now, there are a lot of ways this type of story can go, ranging from action or drama to suspense or comedy; in this film, Team Carasoulos opted for the comedic route. But rather than resorting to the more predictable practices of sight gags, comedic misunderstandings, and gross humor, their approach is more based on the humorous interactions of the various characters.
Tom works at a small, nameless video store in a big, nameless city. Mindy is a trendy pop singer (modeled after the likes of Britney Spears and Jessica Simpson) who accidentally returns the wrong tape to the video store. Ordinarily it’s not a big deal, except that the tape has some rather… interesting footage of Mindy on it. What started as a fairly simple task of getting the tape back turns into a test of wills as Mindy tries to persuade, cajole, whine, trick, and fight Tom to get her tape back. Between this and the antics of a hormonal 14-year-old who keeps trying to rent porn, Mindy learns to have fun, and, more importantly, realizes that fame is not as important as it’s cracked up to be.
Content
At first glance, this film might be seen as a rip-off of Clerks… a video store employee who gets smart with annoying customers while trying to take on as little responsibility as possible. But there are enough significant differences to make this a truly unique and enjoyable film.
To begin with, the story is good. It has a point, and it makes its point without bashing you over the head with it or overwhelming the entire movie. The story is fairly tight overall, and progresses at a good enough pace to keep you interested. The writing and dialogue was very good, with several especially humorous exchanges that had me laughing out loud in a number of places. One in particular was a scene between Tom and a very rude customer who rents The Sixth Sense. As Tom hands her the video, he comments, “Oh, and by the way, Bruce Willis is dead throughout the whole movie,” followed by, “Have you seen The Usual Suspects? [name removed] is Kaiser Soze.” (I don’t want to spoil that one for any who haven’t seen that film!) Such witty interactions make the film very enjoyable.
Warning: Spoiler to come. The only issue I had was at the very end of the movie. Billy, the 14-year-old who’s been hanging around the store all afternoon trying to get porn, comes up to Tom and asks for a Band-Aid, claiming he’s just cut his hand. The Band-Aids are in the cabinet where Tom just put Mindy’s video and, rather than get the bandage himself, Tom lets Billy get it out of the cabinet. Predictably, Billy uses this ruse to make off with the videotape. While somewhat funny (and leaving the story open-ended), it’s just too predictable that Billy will swipe the tape. Plus, it’s not believable that Tom would even let the kid in the cabinet where he’d just put the controversial videotape.
Visual Look
The visual look of the film was wonderfully crisp and clear. Everything was in focus (unless it was an intentional perspective shot), the lighting was even and well-adjusted without any white-balancing issues. The only lighting problem I noticed was a discontinuity in the lighting outside. Throughout the film, we see through the glass door that it is daytime. About 2/3 of the way through, Paul (the manager) stops by, and when we see him leave, it’s dark outside. But when Mindy and Tom leave at the end of the movie, it’s daytime again. It’s not a huge deal, but maybe tightening some of the editing on Paul’s exit might fix it.
Overall, the camerawork was fantastic and creative. There were some awesome POV shots (e.g. from the lunch bag and from under Mindy’s shirt) and some great perspective shots. But there were a few camera pans that seemed awkward and also a few shots that were shaky, as though someone was moving the tripod. Finally, while the editing was generally good, there were a few awkward insert shots and a few wipe transitions which didn’t quite seem to fit in.
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