Director Max Neace’s Steakout! is a comedy short about what happens when two friends have very different ideas about how to spend an evening. What starts as a simple plan gone sideways quickly becomes a test of patience, loyalty, and just how far a guy will go for twenty dollars.
Patrick (Patrick Taft) is a man on a mission. He’s parked on a quiet suburban street, eyes locked on a house across the way, waiting for something to happen. The only problem is that his friend Sean (Sean O’Bryan) is sitting in the passenger seat, unaware that any of this was planned. Sean thought tonight was about a steak dinner. Patrick never mentioned a stakeout, and Sean is hungry, impatient, and genuinely just wants his friend back.
“Sean thought tonight was about a steak dinner. Patrick never mentioned a stakeout…”
The two go back and forth as the night wears on, Sean demanding answers while Patrick tries to stay focused on the job. It slowly comes out that Patrick’s grand stakeout isn’t exactly a matter of national security. Instead, he’s parked outside his ex-girlfriend’s home, determined to collect the twenty dollars she owes him. Sean is not impressed. Just as Sean gets a handle on the situation, a woman named Rebecca (Nihan Gur) appears on the scene.
Steakout! follows one of the basic tenets of comedy. Start with a relatable situation of two dudes at the start of a steakout. As the skit progresses, allow this relatable scene to slowly spin out of control. The script seems simple, but the payoff is brilliant. As the zaniness escalates, you’ll have no idea where this is going. The comedic timing from Patrick Taft and Sean O’Bryan is great, as is the directing from Max Neace — both efficient and right to the punchline.
In just eight minutes, Max Neace proves that a tight script and two actors who trust each other can deliver more laughs than most features manage in two hours. Steakout! is lean, funny, and exactly what it sets out to be.
"…efficient and right to the punchline."
