My first thought, as Freak got underway, was that I was staring deeply into the eyes of a drag queen approximation of Steve Perry from the band Journey. This is not a comment on the story of the short, or anything said, but instead just that very first thought. I then repeated, “Steve Perry… STEVE Perry…” in my head numerous times, in much the same way that it is used as a psych-out in the film BASEketball. Right there, I think the title of Freak more aptly applied to me than the short. But I digress…
Considering the majority of this short film contains just one person on screen practicing his audition sides, I didn’t think it’d keep my interest as much as it did. Moreover, I didn’t think I’d be all that interested in yet another story of a sad-sack actor at the end of their rope. That said, this short works because the acting of Aaron Merken is so ridiculously strong. Playing a man who is constantly being interrupted by annoying phone calls that just explode stress, he manages to repeat and re-visit his script readings with numerous levels of subtle emotion. Had his acting been one-note, this short too would’ve suffered the same fate, but since he delivers so many different flavors of emotion and subtle insanity, the short is actually extremely entertaining.
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