(I) (2003)

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Typically Irish humour that works well despite needing a stronger finish (spoilers)
bob the moo29 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Fed up with life as the son of Irish parents, Martin leaves a note and decides to live the rest of his life as a badger in the backyard. His mother naturally worries but his father is much more practical about the whole affair and decides something must be done.

With a typically Irish sense of humour, this absurd little short produces a witty little piece of nonsense whose only weakness is a rather poor ending. We focus on the parents, never seeing badger boy himself and the dialogue they have is funny and very, well, Irish. It is very practical and funny – the father reckoning he could get lots of paintbrushes out of his son etc, it is absurd but it is also funny. The direction is good and makes good use of the impressive location it has to shoot in. The "punchline" is weak because we see an "animal boy" (spoiling the mystery) and it isn't that funny – slightly undoing the good work that had gone before. The acting is spot on and fans of stuff like Father Ted will easily enjoy it despite it being short. Worth seeing then if that is to your taste but it needed a stronger finish.
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7/10
Amusing Short Film
Theo Robertson3 August 2005
Warning: Spoilers
A very amusing short film that's set up when the parents of a teenager receive a note saying: I can no longer tolerate you as parents so have decided to become a badger

What makes MARTIN a stand out short is the crackling dialogue . Upon reading the note the father exclaims " I can no longer tolerate you as parents so have decided to become a badger . If he'd wrote that he'd decided to become a cadger that would have made more sense " We also hear lines like " If he has become a badger he might be useful for once , just think of the paint brushes we can make out of his bristles " . Lines like this point out that the Celts have the greatest sense of humour in the world . Also watch out for the character who looks as though he's been kidnapped from 28 DAYS LATER

Despite its length ( Or should that be lack of length ? ) MARTIN is enjoyable . No offence to director Imogen Murphy who is at least very competent but most of the credit lies at the feet of writer Geoff Everson
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