“Big Love” is one part a demonstration of digital effects and another part the opening for a really inventive sci-fi feature that leaves one wanting more. Mary McCormack plays mom who demonstrates her strange physical ability to lift and hold her entire body using one hand to her children over breakfast. The bus is fast on its way and the kids must leave for school. Enter dad played by Sam Rockwell, who exclaims, “School? Didn’t you just go to school yesterday?” This little exchange with the kids shows Rockwell’s ability to take very little dialog and make it meaningful and hysterical all at once. The parents are devastated at having to see their kids leave for school since they love them so, so much. Kids are off to school and mom jumps 20 feet into the air on a pogo stick as she watches the bus disappear over the hill when – oops – they forgot their books! Dad delivers the books running alongside the bus at about 40 MPH. Suddenly we quickly zoom out and discover that, gasp, this isn’t earth, but some alien world. Huh. That was weird.
“Big Love” is an odd little film – short on story, big on ideas that results in a really cool technology demonstration. It’s weird, like the six million dollar man and the bionic woman decided to settle down and have kids, which, in itself, is not a bad premise for a movie. Produced by a group of digital artists who have left George Lucas’ Industrial Light & Magic, this short is just a small taste of what these rebel artists are capable of. I can’t wait to see what’s coming next. A “Big Love” feature perhaps?
