The C Word: Written Review

The C Word

Written Review

Hi everyone, and welcome to MyIndie Review Vlog, The show that gives you spoiler-free reviews of indie films. My Name is Asaf Angel from MyIndie Productions, and today’s review is of 2018 short comedy drama, The C Word, written and directed by UK indie filimmaker James Dann.

Thank you, James, for sharing your film with us.

The story focuses on Alan, a young man portrayed by Matt Aistrup. Alan is in the midst of a rough patch. We see him trying to overcome his issues with the help of a support group who seem to suffer from a similar affliction. We soon understand that Alan has a debilitating fear of commitment of any kind.

With the counsel of the group’s mentor, Simon, played by Paul Wilson, Alan finds the connection between his inherent fear and the fact that his life hasn’t panned out the way he would’ve wished. Suffering a rough breakup, which was apparently brought on by his condition, Alan wallows in self pity while reminiscing of the time spent with his ex-girlfriend, Melanie, played by Tracy Gabbitas.

Not giving up on himself just yet, Alan finds the will to turn his life around by taking responsibility for it. He embarks on a self improvement journey and is determined to get his girl back.

My preferred style of comedy will generally involve the presence of the absurd. Not limited to just films, it could be anything; a skit, a song, a play, a written story, etc. The ‘funny’, to me, originates from the absurdity. This is not everyone’s cup of tea, but it is definitely mine.

James Dann shows promising comedic abilities by cleverly using subtext. The film thrives when the joke isn’t ‘in your face’. It doesn’t necessarily get its own focus, but rather it is in the background, challenging you to pick up on it. It makes for quite a fun experience, because subtext can make these types of jokes catch you off-guard, and they make you laugh because they sneak up on you. The combination of the subtext and absurd make for a fun viewing experience for those who ‘get it’ and enjoy this type of humor.

Dann also uses a ‘victim’ to amplify the comedy. Most of the jokes are at Alan’s expense. In that way, the type of humor in The C Word is somewhat similar (again, not in style but in the type of comedy) to shows like The Office or The League. Every time I see something that makes me lose my beverage through my nose, it makes me think back to the old saying that “comedy is the most difficult genre to write”, and I agree with that. Here is why: In any other genre, drama, horror, romance, etc, when a storyteller wants to get a genuine emotional response from an audience, the submersion in the narrative, as well as some other tricks of the trade, help achieve that. The audience is eased-in to become emotionally involved with the characters. In horror, we will fear for the hero’s well-being after having a decent amount of time to get attached to him or her. In a romance, we will want love to prevail after getting attached to the main characters.

But comedy needs to be precise, otherwise it doesn’t work, like a tune played off-key. The storyteller is tasked with getting a response from an audience and it has to happen within a very small period of time and so cannot always rely on the audience’s submergence in the narrative. Granted, in later seasons of comedy shows, the jokes, at times, work better as the audience had sufficient time to fall in love with the characters. But that doesn’t mean the comedy comes easy then, either. It must still be precise.

Like a conductor who is tasked with accurately ushering the players through the piece, and thus performing seamless harmonious music, James Dann was tasked with delivering ‘the funny’ in the right timing and level of sophistication, thus getting the right response from his audience.

To sum up, although the film is not without its imperfections, as there are a few bits in The C Word which seemed to somewhat miss the mark a tad or not fit with the rest of the tone, it is still very clear that young filmmaker James Dann has a pretty good handle on how to create good quality comedy. Personally, I can’t wait to see what he releases next. Here, the production value is decent, cinematography suits the style and the performances are convincing. All in all, it was a lot of fun to watch.

The C Word Gets a 7.5/10 on the Look At Me, I’m A Film Critic scale!
The film was recently made available for free on YouTube, so be sure to watch it. Link at top of the page.

Until next time, keep supporting Indie film. My name is Asaf Angel. I thank you for tuning in to MyIndie Review Vlog! See you next week!