Signs (2008)

[StevePulaski]

Signs (2008)
Directed by: Patrick Hughes

Kestie Morassi in Signs.

Rating: ★★½

You might remember back in 2012, that little Disney short-film Paperman you saw if you watched Wreck-It Ralph during it's theatrical release. It's one thing to pay for a really good movie, which Wreck-It Ralph was, but to preface it with a four-star short? Easily a big win for a night out at the theater. To this day, I still think about the beauty and ingenuity behind that graceful little six-minute short-film.

It wasn't until almost five years after seeing Paperman and Wreck-It Ralph did I become familiar with Signs, a short film from 2008 directed by Patrick Hughes, who directed The Expendables 3 and just had his third directorial effort The Hitman's Bodyguard come to theaters this past August. Signs bears almost the exact same premise as Paperman, centering around the ho-hum life of a corporate office-worker (Nick Russell) as he slogs away at his job amidst the crowded but lonely New York City until he has his life given a momentary spark in the form of a beautiful young woman (Kestie Morassi) working at the neighboring building.

The two meet-cute by way of exchanging brief glances at one another through their respective office windows, and communicate by way of brief musings and expressions written on computer-paper with a thick Sharpie marker. The two always seem to have their replies ready, and distract one another in meetings with a game of tic-tac-toe or crudely drawn breasts. It's so cute and sweet your dentist would probably recommend you not indulge.

It's all pleasant, if a bit overdramatic; if you didn't see its animated clone, you might enjoy it a bit more than I did. For me, this kind of fantasy works best when it's relegated to the boundless beauties of animation, whereas in reality, it all looks too perfect and too sentimental. Hughes apparently directed this short in part to promote Schweppes club soda, tonic water, and their versatile beverages and mixers. That explains why I have an urge to re-edit this short myself as a Schweppes commercial, perhaps what it would've been best intended as.

Starring: Nick Russell and Kestie Morassi. Directed by: Patrick Hughes.