The asymmetry of a lopsided table or a crooked painting can unnerve a person to action. Napkins are folded and wedged under the misbehaving leg; the painting is repositioned. A wobbly piece of furniture and a tilted art piece are easily remedied, but what happens when discrepancies concern money? For the characters in Mike Brune’s short film “The $100 Short Short,” it’ll take more than a stack of napkins to fix things.
The film begins with a large sum of money stolen and presumably by the group of six people gathered around the loot as one of them informs the rest that there is only $999,900 present instead of the million that ought to be there. Counselor (Jonathan Green), the leader, commands his crew to retrace their steps. Conflicts of interest arise and force Counselor to spend the rest of the ten-minute short obsessing about the missing cash.
“The $100 Short Short” is an anti-heist film since the actual stealing of the large sum of money occurs off-screen, and the story is driven by something other than eluding law enforcement agents. Furthermore, when was the last time a posse of cinematic thieves had to deal with five twenty dollar bills that have disappeared? It’s only $100. Counselor is irked but not in terms of the monetary value. He’s upset because of the space that it would’ve taken up in the money pile. There’s this space where it should be, but it isn’t, and it bothers him…and it bothers you. In less than ten minutes, Brune makes you care about what might otherwise be considered insignificant.
