A Screening

I went to a screening of three short films at a venue called The Producer's Club on W44th St.
One of them,  COMMENTARY, had caught my interest because of some Broadway names in the cast including Alison Fraser, Chip Zien, Tom Hewett, Leslie Kritzer and Liz Larsen.
The first film to be screened, THE CALL, was preceeded by an introductory spiel by the director with a promise of a post-show discussion and DVDs on sale in the lounge. THE CALL, a heartwarming parable about emphysema featuring two small children on a beach, ran all of nine minutes. The came  COMMENTARY. The director Aaron Mark declined to make any preparatory remarks.

Apparently the audience wasn't expecting a semi-improvised showbiz satire of more than an hour's running time filmed with one stationery camera because before long there was a steady stream of walkouts, angry mutterings and the glowering of cellphones. Before the film was over even the director bolted. A shame because it is a lot of fun if overlong.