Forget About It

Director Christopher Hammond, along with writer Thomas Barnes blends the gangster theme and comedy genre to convey many lessons in the screenplay thereby increasing the degree of audience engagement with the content. Lewis Wallace, Jack Harris, and Thomas Barnes understand Hammond’s vision and add intricate details in their performance to build realism and relatability transcending the written material onto the screen.

The plot of Forget About It revolves around how films influence the way we live our lives, For Jake and Steve it takes on a whole new meaning. One evening whilst watching a mobster classic Steve takes on the persona of an Italian mobster, causing Jake to slowly unravel, leading to the demise of this odd couple.

Forget About It opens with a voice-over of a movie playing on the television followed by a long shot of a couple sitting on the couch having a casual conversation to establish the subject matter picking up the pace as the narrative goes ahead. The set design, black, white, and dark blue colour pallet, lighting, camera angles, music, sound, dialogues, costume, hair, makeup, and props are kept natural complementing the storyline to provide depth.

In terms of performance, Lewis Wallace plays Steve a software engineer from Essex who turns into a gangster under the influence of a movie he watched last. Wallace effortlessly switches between Steve as well as the Italian mob. The actor adopts different body language, Voice modulation, style of dialogue delivery, facial expression, and eyes for each of them.

Jake Harris plays Jake who is a more delicate at-heart, caregiver and wants to get Steve out of the bandit act. Jake is an emotional anchor in the relationship. Jake effectively balances the emotions and logic always thinking of the betterment of his partner. Harris with his acting skills also steps back to support Wallace and let him shine in certain scenes elevating the story creating an emotional connection with the viewers.

Thomas Barnes plays the role of Norbert Not Niro who is Steve’s partner in crime when he becomes an Italian mobster. Barnes takes on dual responsibility for Forget About It as a writer along with acting. Barnes’s writing assisted with the comic element of both Steve and Jake so that the audience does not lose interest in the film and stays gripped to the content all through the running time of fifteen minutes.

Forget About It warns us that extreme exposure to anything can prove detrimental to the mental as well as physical health of people. The short film reiterates that watching something on television or in the cinema should have lessons that positively impact one’s life rather than having the opposite effect. Forget About It subtly touches upon the unpredictable nature of life and therefore the need to value the important relationships that one starts taking for granted in the long run.

As an ardent viewer, I would like to appreciate the makers for providing facts just before rolling in the credits so that the audience can completely understand the topic interpret it as per their perception.