Short Film Review “Say Hello” Mob ties, extortion, hard choices, and a taste of possible absolution all merge together with decently executed finesse
WATCH THE TRAILER BELOW:
First, the Recap:
Don’t you just HATE it when all that you felt was IN control takes that spiral that steers you clearly OUT of it? Even when our decisions may not always have been to the benefit of ourselves we might have believed, things aren’t much better when it then starts to REALLY fall apart. Forced to make further options that only serve to place us directly in the figurative (or literal!) line of fire, what will the results be when backed up against the wall?
Ethics and coloring within the lines have both been foreign concepts for crooked cop Lt. Cole (Kasia Skolasa), even as she maintains her duty while harboring secrets and “fixing” things for the local mob boss, Gio Marconi (David Graziano). Apparently, all has been (relatively) well until a current case she is working turns from one perspective into an entirely different one. Now at the mercy of a favor Marconi wishes her to now enact, can Cole find the fortitude to stand up and save someone’s life….as well as her own?
Next, my Mind:
Just being realistic here, there’s certainly NO doubt that stories involving the Mob and crooked cops are quite frequented by filmmakers over the decades. Let’s face it, there IS something undeniably attractive about it, and it IS so easy to delve into without having to necessarily get “deep” with it, though efforts such as, say, ‘The Departed”, “Cop Land”, or “We Own The Night” do at least provide far more than just surface level criminality mixing things up with paid-for police force members. When it comes to indie cinema, especially within the overall, closer-to-grass roots realms, keeping things more straight forward and uncomplicated while still maintaining character integrity and at least an engaging enough tale to keep the viewer interested. With this 16-minute short film from director David Graziano, writer/producer Kasia Skolasa, and writer/producer/editor Killarney Traynor, simplicity works best, and works well, at least to a degree.
Through its narrative that finds a dedicated but “bent” cop whose involvement in more ways than one with a local mob boss takes a potentially dire turn when he calls in a favor that she may or may NOT actually wish to go through with, the foundational pacing here is solid due to an abbreviated runtime, and launches us into the fray with a more “start at the end and work our way back” approach in telling it. This is executed smoothly enough to leave you guessing certain elements AT the beginning, and then get to merge into the “AH, OK, THAT’S what’s really going on!” arena, especially as the film’s third act arrives to put our not-so-completely-clean protagonist on the needed offensive in a desperate move to resolve her little dilemma with emphatic and in what DOES have a darkly humorous twist to it all, which admittedly was a little unexpected given the edgy nature of the themes being explored.
The only thing for me personally was as the story begins its descent into the REAL meat of things, there’s a key relationship tie to two of the characters that serves as a catalyst for things as it all spirals towards the finale, but for whatever reason, the WAY in which this gets established on screen somehow felt JUST a little….forced….or perhaps even a tad underwhelming? We are talking about a character who is truly in a serious bind, with a decision to make that WILL impact them for good OR bad, and with that kind of emotively-charged air to things, how it all gets portrayed fell flat to an extent for me, turning necessary tension (which again, DOES hit) into a rather abrupt shift the other way, and maybe it just took away some of the intensity of things in a manner that didn’t quite strike me.
Now, this is NOT some embittered diatribe towards the narrative in itself. I LIKED the story, I LIKED how it ended. I believe it was more that with only sixteen minutes to FULLY flesh out what is frankly a longer film’s worth OF gradual building-to-boiling-point material possibilities being presented, things stalled at this certain juncture where I wish it hadn’t BEFORE ramping up again and delivering the knock-out blow which IS smartly apropos and entertaining. Plus, there is also a particular instance where we have an oft-utilized but still FUN ode to a CLASSIC film! Skolasa provides us with a fully grounded and totally credible turn here as Lt. Cole, a cop on the take who must navigate the consequences of her choices that seemed to be perfectly to her liking until one favor could either destroy OR elevate her life…ALL dependent on precisely WHAT she decides to pursue.
Again, it’s an uncomplicated performance that aims for a degree of gravitas that DOES manifest to sufficient magnitudes, minutely shaky at times, but not remotely to a scale that diminishes your association with a character you WANT to root for, might have doubts about, and then root for again, a very positive plug for an actress who doesn’t necessarily have a wealth of film credits to her name yet. Graziano, in what I believe is only his second round as a director, comes about from behind the lens and gets in front of it as well here, doing so with a wholly sharp, no-nonsense, in-your-face, get calm menace through his role here as mafia boss Gio Marconi. Channeling the most common style of attitude we would expect from an archetypical mobster, it’s the way Graziano chooses to INFUSE Marconi with the demeanor he requires, hence allowing for this to thoroughly work thanks to the more seasoned actor’s talents.
Killarney Traynor is Eve Hathaway, a primary factor involved with Lt. Cole’s investigation into events perpetrated by Marconi that have more than directly impacted her, and could put her conclusively in the crosshairs of TWO people who just might wish to ensure another sunrise is NOT something she gets to enjoy. Traynor plays this just as up front and perfectly credible as the others. A main supporting appearance is made by Claire Aucoin as Lt. Cole’s commander, Frankie, who seems so happy with her employees abilities and record of getting things accomplished….but one wonders if she really has ANY inkling about what REALLY goes on behind her figurative, and honestly literal, back when it comes to just HOW Cole achieves the things and successes she does. In this kind of scenario, it almost always feels at first like everyone involved is really LOSING….until it might all turn around and reconcile for the better. Yeah, the better. Right??
So, in total, “Say Hello” wears its indie film pedigree on its visual and narrative sleeve, a nice little romp through the world of corruption, coercion, and ideally personal redemption that most assuredly reminds us about a very simple life rule we should ALL strive to follow, much less the authorities who are charged with legitimately keeping OUR good will and safety paramount…it isn’t nice to play with mobsters! So DON’T DO IT!
STAR RATING (out of 5):
As always, this is all for your consideration and comment. Until next time, thank you for reading!
