COST OF LIVING

COST OF LIVING (2011)
US
Directed by BenDavid Grabinski

CAST:
Brandon Routh - Silas
Bret Harrison - Jerry
Mary Elizabeth Winstead - The Computer (voice)

PLOT:
     Two young security guards at an unusual corporation have a bad night.

REVIEW:
     I usually check to see everyday what reviews I posted gets the hits the most and I noticed on Tuesday that Dylan Dog Dead Of Night has this honor this week so far. This caught me by surprise as I didn't think Brandon Routh had anything new coming out quite yet. Well I did find out differently once I did a little exploring online and found out that a short film become available this Tuesday. Seems like there was a short that played at film festivals last year that he was in was released online and to watch for free. So what could be better than a short genre film that's free to watch.

     I'll go ahead and admit that I like Brandon Routh as an actor. Yes, he can be a little taut delivering his lines every so often and the same can be said for this short as well. But here's the funny thing. You know when Routh is on screen. He has a stage presence that not a lot of people have. Even in this he does as he plays the more bad ass of a two man security team. Routh plays his character Silas as almost like he's scene it all and acts accordingly. Routh also has most of the funny lines in the short and pulls them off great all the while keeping a straight face. Brett Harrison, who plays Jerry, is more of a short straw character as he gets most of the backlash from the action seen in the film. He also plays the smarter of the two as he likes bringing up more philosophical questions to his partner Silas.  One of the more interesting questions Jerry brings up is the topic of missing time. The reason I find this interesting is because of where the two work at. Harrison does pretty well as his character is the one that questions a lot of his personal life due to his job and wanting to transfer to a different company branch location.

     BenDavid Grabinski has actually created a fun first film that he wrote as well. His camera style already shows a flair that few have when they start out. I liken Grabinski's style to that of a young Ryuhie Kitamura where the camera knows that action is important and shouldn't cut away to hide what is going on and his use of angles are decent as well yet he knows when to focus on the characters also. There are plenty of monster references in Cost Of Living from were-children to cloning to gremlins. There is even an ode to the movie Aliens in the short as well which I got a good giggle at. Grabinski does something very smart with his film. Either because of money constraints or the look of the creature effects didn't look good, there are no monsters seen in the short. Yes, you hear them and see their blood splash, a lot, yet not one is viewed. This is also the one draw back for me to the film. It's a monster movie without the monsters. Thankfully what the film does have going for it is a sense of fun that is a throwback to the monster and buddy cop films from the 80s and 90s. It moves quickly, has some great one-liners, and has a air of fun running throughout the entire run time. If you can spare the 10 minutes this is a quick moving short film that is fun to watch.


BEST DEATH:
     Sorry you have to look elsewhere for that this time.

BEST LINE:
     Never mind. We're fucked.

FUN FACTS:
     Cost of Living is director BenDavid Grabinski's first film.

     Brandon Routh cites the movie Braveheart his all-time favorite film.

     Bret Harrison's  parents encouraged his interest in performing at a young age. He received an electric guitar for his tenth birthday.

     Fun Credits: After the the credits stop rolling a teaser pops up saying " Silas and Jerry might return in.......Cost Of Living 2: The Nebraska Clusterfuck