As Bob says this is a coming of age story with a rich vein of enjoyable black comedy featuring a gay protagonist . Don't be put off by this fact because regardless of your opinion of homosexuality unless you're called Putin you may very well find this a charming involving short film . The drama is very universal containing a protagonist , objects that the protagonist desires , obstacles that stops the protagonist achieving this aim and resolution to the plot . It also features physical manifestation of the internal turmoil of the protagonist and while it may be difficult to realise this on screen in theory writer/director Adam Baran manages to make this look easy by using a simple way . You might have to suspend disbelief because I find it very difficult to believe that gay porn would be so readily available in an American city in the 1990s and low and behold someone finds some and feels the need to phone someone else but like so many other films if this type of inciting incident doesn't happen then you wouldn't have a story and this contrivance is always magnified when a film has such a short running time but at least the story is very streamlined
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Theo Robertson25 February 2014
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bob the moo19 February 2014New Jersey 1994 and young Jack Hoffman is trying to masturbate to pictures of men from clothes catalogues while also hiding in his house to avoid being beaten up as a "faggot", even though nobody knows that he is actually gay. When he hears from a friend that they had found and dumped a stash of gay porn magazines in a dumpster across town, he springs into action to find them and get them. His greed to get them all though sees him at risk from the bullies who are kicking around the neighborhood.
This is essentially a coming-of-age tale where a teenage boy is forced to come to terms with who he is, his sexuality and what others will think of that. The narrative device used is the manifestation of one of the models in the porno and he talks him through the challenges ahead. As a story it is nicely told and it is pretty nice to see a story made with a different sexuality in mind for this sort of thing. In that sense the message is positive even if it is simple. Perhaps it was just me but the hunt for porn as a teen was one that rung true – I would have been a bit older than Jack here in 1994 and yes in the early 90's there was no mountain of online porn just a click away, instead you had to seek it out and yes that maybe did mean situations like this!
The material is simple but the direction is mostly good; no great flourishes perhaps but solid camera work, good color and nice locations which are made to look good. Navarro is solid in the lead although I thought that Fleming was a little bit stiff as a character. Generally though it works and, as straightforward as it is, it is a nice coming- of-age tale that features a refreshing change in the sexuality which is the norm for these types of stories. -
Horst_In_Translation29 July 2016"Jackpot" is a live action short film from 2012 that runs for slightly under 10 minutes and was written and directed by Adam Baran. It's an American production and will have its fifth anniversary next year. It is the story of a teenage boy who is in the closet. He hears that there are some gay porn magazines in the garbage nearby and goes off to get them. Sadly, a couple homophobic teenagers catch him there and chase him. I thought this was a funny film with these fictional stereotypical characters coming to life. The part about fighting for who you are was not too well executed, however, and I could not take this story-line seriously. Also the film is hurt by the lead actor being fairly limited in terms of range. This became painfully obvious during the phone call. With a better actor, I may have given this one a 6 out of 10 perhaps even as it's finally a gay-themed movie that does not include a ridiculous, absurd, overly dramatic or tragic love story between two men. Something refreshing, but still the negative outweighs the positive in the end and I don't recommend the watch.
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Irishchatter1 September 2018Honestly, this was funny like I mean you wouldn't normally see a guy going after gay related magazines that were being dumped and then running away from bullies when they found out he owned the magazines. As well, you could see that he's always imagine the gay model in the magazines who gives him words of wisdom and trying to help him be stronger to defeat the bullies. Unfortunately he was all bruises when he got home and i reckon he would get bullied for being who he is in school. It's sad really since it does happen for real in this world and it hurts!
Good short, kudos to all actors involved! -
Kirpianuscus26 June 2018A simple story. nice performances. enough for a film about a boy, his sexuality, temptation and the price of truth. tonic, realistic, seductive. one of short films working first for the use of memories of a part of public. so, the unconventional hero, the bitter lesson and the final smile. and it is enough.