SLFS Review – THE ULTIMATE FAN

Writer/director Nicholas Rousseau’s 16-minute short film THE ULTIMATE FAN screens Tuesday night at 7pm at Landmark’s The Tivoli Theater as part of the St. Louis Filmaker’s Showcase. It will play along with 11 other narrative shorts in the Shorts Program: Drama. For a list of the other films in that program, go HERE. Ticket information can be found HERE.

Review of THE ULTIMATE FAN by Stephen Tronicek

The best way to take The Ultimate Fan is as a comedy. That’s not an insult, that’s an observation. The fact is put as a simple drama, Fan, doesn’t really offer much, but in the context of a comedy it takes on a unique identity. The short directed by Nicholas Rousseau is about a fan named Fred, who is absolutely obsessed with sports. The greatness of the characters in the film is the fact that they all seem to act in the context of the film which is certainly different. The perspective of the movie is in the view of Fred, and that reflects on all of the characters in a pretty absurd way. The utter absurdity of the way he looks at the world through his obsession is projected onto all the characters making each unrealistic but entertaining. In fact, the hilarious absurdity of the movie is quite comedic There’s some actual depth in that as eventually, the film displays it’s own absurd, comedic edge on the people who become too obsessed, the fun side of such hobbies, and the repetitive and unfounded way that people often put down such hobbies. As a drama, the glaring absurdity of the film would have overwhelmed the tone, but as a comedy, The Ultimate Fan has a startling amount of depth especially in this day and age.

A Facebook page on THE ULTIMATE FAN can be found HERE

https://www.facebook.com/UltimateFanfilm