Winter Nights (2009)

I really like most short films. It takes a special talent to get a story and characterization across in such a short span of time. At thirty-three minutes, "Winter Nights" provides little of this.

Megan (Ilana Kohanchi) kidnaps World War II veteran Colton (Tony Mathews) at gunpoint. He is sickly and frail, but still goes along with the crime. During the film's flashbacks, we see Megan dealing with some heavy issues in her life. She has broken up with fiance/hockey player Mickale (Alinur Goksel), and her grandmother Helen (Elaine Levin) is dying of cancer. As Megan and Colton come to like each other, Megan's kidnapping motive is revealed.

Kevin Y. Ling wrote and directed the short film. The title is one of many references to cold, along with characters' names and some peripheral situations. Ling does not follow through on these points, turning an already preposterous situation into a short soap opera that I quickly found tedious. Mathews and Levin are fine, even while delivering the clunky dialogue, and Guralnik actually gets better as the film goes along. Technically, the picture looks better than the sound plays. Ling's director of photography does a nice job, and the closing theme music is memorable. Ling could have either mined this for some dark comedic gold, or gone into a deadly serious Gothic drama.

Instead, the film cannot make up its mind, but I'm sorry to say I can. Go ahead and skip this cold "Winter Nights."

Stats:
(2009) 33 min. (4/10)
-Written and Directed by Kevin Y. Ling
-Cast: Ilana Kohanchi, Tony Mathews, Alinur Goksel, Elaine Levin, Beth Bemis, Jiin Liang, Chelsea Smith, Jason Archer, Allan Lazo, Adam Norcup
(Not Rated)