Stick Up

An armed robbery gets complicated, leading to nasty consequences.

Ali (Hartley) is a young woman who is armed with a gun and arrives at a petrol station with the intention of robbing it. Instead of the employee she was expecting to find, she sees a young man (Davis) who claims to be working there also. She recognizes him as Sonny, a criminal. Sonny is also there to rob the place. To make things more awkward, a uniformed policeman arrives. What follows is shooting, profanity, people getting shot and double-crossing.

This dark comedy action-crime short won the ''Best Short'' Audience Award at the deadCenter Film Festival and it is very entertaining indeed. The plot is a simple plan that goes extremely wrong, leading to carnage and it tells the story with plenty of humour. Characters react like cartoon characters when they get shot, comically showing that they are in pain and making jokes out of it, while at the same time drink beer. It is quite amusing watching what might had been a serious situation turning unpredictable and darkly comical. The dialogue is clever and the performances are fun.

Davis and Marzett are both very entertaining as clumsy crooks, behaving almost like toddlers, laughing and not taking things seriously. Hartley is also funny, however she is also methodical, tough, smart and determined to get what she wants. Her face has cuts and bruises, indicating that she has a tough life, from which she longs to get away. Cox is also comedic as the petrol station employee. Generally, it is clear that the cast are having a good time.

The soundtrack is great and the song Ten Cent Millionaire ends the film perfectly. Praise also goes to the stylized closing credits and to the beautiful cinematography by Jacob Leighton Burns.

This accomplishment is worthy of significant acknowledgement. It is very well made and offers a rather enjoyable and memorable ride, filled with interesting characters, dark humour and action.