“Editing is Everything” offers a clever idea — a 1940s writers room where java-and-tobacco-wired scribes bang out ideas on the creation of the New Testament. Four writers named (what else?) Matthew, Mark, Luke and John pour a variety of plot twists and character developments to make the story as commercial as possible; Luke even points to market research which shows the public loves central characters with superhuman talents! One could easily imagine the Monty Python sextet running wild with a concept like this.
Unfortunately, “Editing is Everything” is not a Monty Python film.
Instead, it is a flat comedy saddled with a script that is devoid of wit and cast with actors who have no idea how to deliver a punchline. Opportunities exist for true fun, especially the opening which features a hat-rack crowded with halos, but almost immediately the fun ceases as the creative session lingers far too long over every not-so-amusing joke (an explanation of who the “meek” are supposed to be, a long hush on the possibility of making Mary Magdalene a prostitute, etc.). Director Michæl Samonek has no clue regarding scene blocking and camera placement and editor Mick Reed’s work is so dull that it would seem he cut the film with a butter knife.
“Editing is Everything” supposed won the Best Comedy Award at something called the Shorts International Film Festival. This honor says more about the deficit of entries in that competition than about the quality of this lousy little effort.
