The title of this Oscar-nominated animated short could be THE LADY, THE REAPER & THE DOCTOR, or THE REAPER VS. THE DOCTOR. An old lady lies down to sleep. In the night, her spirit rises from her body and she meets the grim reaper who promises to reunite her with her beloved husband. Then all of a sudden she is yanked back to life via the efforts of a cocky doctor and his buxom nurses.
Javier Recio Garcia's dark comedy pits the reaper and the doctor against each other for the life of the lady. At a break-neck pace, the film throws gags at the audience that felt like LOONEY TUNES meets SCOOBY-DOO turned up to 11. The film has great timing in how it quickly sets up its gags and delivers laughs. But the fast-paced second half works all the better because Garcia takes time to set up the scenario in the first place. He handles a tone shift perfectly, resulting in more sustained humor for everything that follows.
This is one of the best shorts nominated for the 2010 Oscars. The clever plot sets up a nice battle of wills that ends with the right dark laugh that the entire film warrants. It has a way of turning "happy ending" upside down.
Rick DeMott
Animation World Network
Creator of Rick's Flicks Picks
