Movie Review: Check Please! (2017)

Check Please! (2017) - USA - Comedy - Not Rated (Adult Humor)

Independent Short Subject - MaxiMeise Productions - 4 Mins

Directed by Chad Meisenheimer

Cinematography by Niklas Berggren

Starring Shane Ryan, Chad Meisenheimer

In space no one can hear Shane Ryan cringe but thanks to Chad Meisenheimer we can all see and enjoy it.

Adam and Steve get together at a restaurant the morning following first meeting on a blind date. Apparently things went well on the date but Steve has a revelation that just may change the way Adam looks at blind dates again.

If the premise of two men meeting at a restaurant for a love interest strikes you as a meeting midway between My Dinner with Andre and Making Love...

...think again.

Though Chad Meisenheimer has been making headway as a horror director with his ongoing trilogy of retro horror shorts, including the 80s entry Nite Nite, making its way in festivals now, and his 90s in the works project Little Girl in White, his roots have been comedy, and of course if you've ever followed him on social media you would have no doubts about this. In the midst of establishing himself as a horror director he has hearkened back to his roots as writer and director of the comedy short Check Please!

Inline with his off-the-wall and unapologetic style of humor guaranteed to get your attention, if not your ire too, Chad takes aim at a setup involving a hookup between gay men. His partner in crime... err... I mean cinema is fellow filmmaker and friend Shane Ryan (Caged Lesbos A-Go-Go, Faces of Snuff) who is no stranger to pushing the envelope in film.

With Chad directing and Niklas Berggren on board as cinematographer they keep it dynamic by changing up the shots. This is important as it's all too easy with an under four minute short to keep a camera stationary when you only have two actors sitting at a table. Constantly changing the perspective to accentuate each actor's expressions adds to the pace and allows the viewer to focus on the dialogue more while the occasional framing shot of both actors keeps the viewer in check with the setting.

I have a feeling with Shane being friends with Chad he has become a master of the facepalm and annoyed look. He plays well a reactionary sounding board for Chad's humor. And speaking of Chad, probably something you don't want to find yourself doing too often, he is buoyant in delivering his lines and I suspect relishing the opportunity to torture Shane.

If this sounds a lot like friends having fun doing a comedy skit, well that's exactly what it is and they successfully translate that to film. The story is complete and Chad has certainly filled it with his WTF juice... wait, ewww! The end result at a basic level is a good and entertaining film that benefits extra from its directing and cinematography.

My Rating: 3 Fingers Plus