One of the best things about short films is that, when done right, they are neither full-length stories crammed into too little time by money constraints nor stupid one-joke ideas that shouldn’t have even seen more than 30 seconds — they are tales told well in less time than a feature. In God We Trust is one of those.
Again with the American Neo-Realism, this time we have a guy on his way to Heaven who must first pass through a cramped and distinctly 70’s-institutional-type processing office. He finds out he’s bound for Hell, but before the processing is done, the system (Windows, jokes the case worker) goes down. Our hero bolts, manages to get back to Earth and is pursued by remote by a team of vengeful office “angels.” See, it turns out our souls really are on the point system, and while this guy is loose he may rack up enough points to reverse the verdict. And that would disrupt the bureaucracy, so we can’t have that. Charming, funny, stylish, extremely well-photographed — director Jason Reitman is clearly a pro at this “90s style” thing and turns in a winner with a great moral to boot.
