Squirrel Man (2005)

One day I saw a program called "African American Short Films" in my TV listings. It wasn't the first time I had seen a program like this, and I knew I had seen some quality work when I watched before.

Only one film stood out for me in this hour-long show, one reason being that it was by far the longest film at 17 minutes.

But in those 17 minutes, characters were defined, and we were made to care about them and their situations. Comedy and action were mixed with conflict and drama. Problems were defined and in some cases solved to the extent they could be in a TV episode or movie. And quality acting made it all work.

I think this should have been nominated for the Oscar for best short film.

Ironically, I liked Morgan a lot in spite of why I knew Bill Cobbs. I did not like "Go On" except for Matthew Perry, and that was enough to make me watch. And yet I didn't like Cobbs' blind curmudgeon. It didn't matter, because that familiarity was enough to Make Morgan interesting.

Whether Cobbs actually played the sax or not, the saxophone music was good.

And of course Morocco Omari, the actor playing the father, showed a wide range. He was a hard-working and demanding man who didn't care for the nonsense coming from his own father, who while apparently entitled to retirement, didn't seem to be contributing.

It's a worthy effort.