Little Surprises

Ginger is cleaning her house in preparation for her future-husband's parents coming to visit. However they arrive several hours before Ginger was expecting them - and she is not quite prepared for the force of nature that both of them are. Things get a bit easier when Joe and Ethel's other daughter and her boyfriend arrive and then Joe Jr finally arrives. Things are tense enough before the arrival of long lost brother Jack, bringing surprises with him.

Many of the shorts in the `short story cinema' series tended to really be different or do their own thing; too many of them had the same visual style and even the same light jazz score. However Little Surprises did pretty well to break away from the mould even if it does still have the same jazz score as all the other shorts in the series seem to have! Director Jeff Goldblum manages to make the film feel quite colourful and interesting and uses the settings pretty well to match the mood of the film - the open spaces and colour of the room for the early comic scenes and the less detailed background of the pool when the focus changes. In fact the whole film manages to carry off this sudden swap between an opening that suggests that this will be a comedy and a second half that is loading with confrontation and surprises. This is not to suggest that the plot is perfect though, because it isn't. It leaves too many questions unanswered and, of course, some of the coincidences and their outfall are a little hard to accept. Nevertheless it still mostly works and is interesting for the duration.

The cast is also very good even if some are not totally clear in their characters. Steiger obviously stands out as the drunken Joe senior but, in the more serious second half, it has less need for him. Preston's Ginger is good and she handles things well. Whipple's Joe Jr is a bit too weedy and unlikely to not only be part of this family but also to be with Ginger; likewise Pellegrino's Jack is far too clichéd a character. The other couple of roles (Cavanaugh and Moskow) are OK and are used well to support both the comic side and the more serious side.

Overall this is an enjoyable short - it has an interesting plot that mixes the serious with the comic to pretty good effect. It may not be perfect but it is good enough despite having one or two of the flaws that the other films in the short story cinema series do.

After watching "Little Surprises" all I can say is this: Jeff Goldblum should go back to the director's chair more times. He's a master storyteller, knows how to pick great actors (both known or little known) and he knows how to develop a story that wasn't even written by him. I wonder how Showtime convinced him to direct such a curious, funny, engaging and surprising story. And as reward he was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Short - Live Action category (in a year that two other actors also made their very first short films, Griffin Dunne - who became a feature film director - and Christine Lahti, who end up winning the Oscar). Anyway, the 1990's were a great decade for many first-timers behind cameras.

"Little Surprises" tells the story of a young couple (Kelly Preston and Sam Whipple) who are all excited for their wedding day and the man decides to invite his own family to spend the previous day at their house. And they come: his parents (Julie Harris and Rod Steiger), with the man being a completely obnoxious character full of demands; his sister and her boyfriend (Christine Cavanaugh and Kenneth Moskow) and his younger brother (Mark Pellegrino). This latter character is the one we must pay some great attention: his presence was totally granted, he was out of rehab for quite some time and he was distant from everyone but he showed up. Plot twist: though the girl doesn't know anyone from her fiyance's family she knew the brother before and something happened between them in a not so distant past. Feelings emerge from both parties, so what's gonna happen now?

Filled with awkward moments stuffed with a great sense of humor, this one left me more in a state of suspense and thrill than just seeing how comical any situation could turn out. The little surprises from life are basically a mixture of emotions that it depends on each person and their experiences in knowing how to feel them, how to embrace or accept things, reactions and all then comes the moment to take action and see the record straight. Preston character goes through a rollercoaster of emotions to the point she can't hide things anymore, she loves the problematic brother and she's so into him that the marriage might be put off for good in a heartbeat. This is one of those movies where the challenge is also on us. What would we do if facing similar scenario? To abandon everything and follow our truest desires? Whom do we love, actually? The one we built some years together or the one who touched us in a special way for one night? There's also some questionings beyond the woman's dilemma - what about dealing with a loud bigot old-timer like the dad character? Steiger is something else with such role, it's so erratic that it manages to become awkwardly funny.

Truth be told but the title says it all and it's not just about the story itself (perfect by the way, except for a lack of some better resolution). This short has so many little yet great surprises that you may wonder why you haven't seen before or even a story written in a non-cliched way. It's a small film under the radar of many viewers - unless you're a die hard fan of any of the people involved with - that it's a pity it isn't more well-known (and let's face it, short film enthusiasts are quite rare here and elsewhere).

The ensemble cast is one of the greatest put together, everyone is pretty good here and they really enjoy themselves in the roles they were given. Goldblum was really lucky to have them, from the established veterans from the Golden Era of Hollywood to the newcomers of the 1990's, this junction of generations made this immensely enjoyable. 10/10.