One Man Band

Starring: N/A
Directed by: Mark Andrews, Andrew Jimenez
Rating: G
Genre: Short, Animated, Comedy
Length: 9 minutes
2005

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: Two musicians compete for a girl's coin.

Review:

Tim: I know a lot of people enjoyed One Man Band. I get it, although I personally wasn't a fan. It's hard for me to feel like this was an exceptional short film, even though it was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Animated Short. It's cute and well designed, but the story left me feeling a bit cold.

The story is basically two musicians, both different versions of the "one man band" approach. A little girl approaches a fountain in the middle of a square (all alone, for some reason) and just before she is going to throw the coin in, is distracted by one of the musicians. This starts a battle between the two, vying for her attention and hopefully, the coin. I have a lot of questions about this premise. Why is the girl alone? Why are two musicians both in the same deserted square (except for the girl)? Where is everyone else? The premise isn't as clever as the directors thought it was.

The music isn't all that memorable. The score was written by the insanely talented Michael Giacchino, but I don't think I ever felt "wow, that's beautiful!" It's fine, but not as good as I would have expected. The characters weren't great, either. I'm not sure how I was supposed to feel about the two musicians, but I certainly didn't like them very much. I didn't want either of them to "win".

The ending of the film is a bit inexplicable, too. It might be a way to show off the animation and the music, but it didn't make a lot of sense to me within the context of the film's story. The animation is solid in this film, but the story doesn't serve the technical aspects well.

I like most of Pixar's short films, but this is one that didn't connect with me. It wasn't especially enjoyable and I have zero desire to revisit it. I'm a bit surprised it's as well received as it is, and that it was nominated for an Oscar. This movie certainly appeals to some, but it didn't to me.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: N/A



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