In God We Trust (2000) User Reviews

Have You Got Enough Points for Heaven?

[marty-133 · 8/10 · 16 March 2002]

What would happen if you died, and were destined to live the rest of eternal life in hell, on the technicality that not quite enough good deeds had been done to qualify for eternal bliss in the great above? Most likely what the main character in this hilarious short does: RUN LIKE HELL!!!

This film is a fast paced race for survival with a man on a mission to amend his life -- after escaping the halls of judgement -- while a bunch of angels track him down for a kill. In the style of "Run Lola Run" the main character speeds along from destination to destination overcoming obstacles along the way. The plot is much less serious than the aforementioned movie however, and comes up with hilarious scenarios for our hero to deal with.

With great cinematography, accompanying music, and a great sense of humor this is one short not to miss!

You can see it if you like at www.atomfilms.com

Good Short Movie

[tdvda · 9/10 · 10 February 2001]

I caught this movie the other day on cinemax and I liked it. It's one of the best short comedies I've seen, its fun, easy to watch, and it left me with a big smile on my face when it was over. I truly enjoyed it. I recommend you catch it next time its on cinemax.

A fun little short to watch if you ever get the chance

[Agent10 · 8/10 · 22 July 2002]

While Jason Reitman certainly has plenty of connections, at least he is trying different forms of filmmaking before following his talented father. Funny, eclectic, and interesting, I really thought this was a great little film to watch.

Sure, some of the jokes seemed a little forced, but the dancing scene is priceless. It was also fun to see how ingeniously purgatory was portrayed, a lumbering beaurocracy between the upper management and the mail room (hell). At least we know the younger Reitman is cutting his teeth and refining his work before he tries to make longer films.

Beautiful! Just beautiful!

[X2MK0 · 20 June 2004]

We loved this short film. When one of us got AtomFilms hi-def, this was one of the first films we got on it. Simply splendid! We loved it! The little details made the film! Aspiring film makers, take notes! :) The music was brilliant!

Robert dies, goes to purgatory and discovers he is destined for hell(for little things; like he never danced... aside from at a funeral). Robert escapes and gets a bit of a second chance. He starts out scaring the bejeepers out of two paramedics, who -thought- his body was caput, then he heads out to make things right.

This film has an educational quality, too. yeah. We learned that smoothies can help save you from eternal damnation. Good to know.

Best Short in Toronto, too

[loserbeth · 10/10 · 28 December 2000]

First saw this at the Toronto Film Festival, and it was great. Better than some two hour features I saw there! This director is a talent to watch, I hope he is already working on a feature. I think you can see this little gem for yourself at atomfilms.com. It was there a few months ago.

I can't tell you too much about the story, cause I don't want to give it away! The actor was in those Doritos commercials, and some other stuff, he's very familiar. The writing is all there, and the acting by (forgive me, I don't know the names) the "purgatorial officer" was hilarious. You could tell that the people making the short were having fun. Well, if they weren't they sure looked it. Try to find this somewhere, you be glad you did.

Good film, one of the best I've seen.

[nitro-purge · 10/10 · 16 November 2005]

Good whether you like short films or not.

I really enjoyed it i thought it was very witty and handled the whole religion thing very well without causing any offence.

Worth watching at LEAST once.

You can see it on the atomfilms website Definitely one of the very best short films I've seen. The sets look so good that they could have come from a Hollywood studio.

Hope this was helpful to all those who want to see it. Id also recommend the angry kid series as that was a lot of other very good and may i add English (as am I) shorts.

Cool little movie

[FordPrefect-42 · 10/10 · 5 October 2005]

I saw this on AtomFilms.com and thought it was great. A guy dies, is sent to purgatory, and finds out he doesn't have enough "points" to get into heaven. He makes his way back to earth, trying to tell his loved ones that he will die and go to hell.

This is a really fun and different movie. it's definitely a comedy, but some of the moments are really sweet. I don't believe that we go to heaven or hell because we did more good things than bad things, and vice versa. I believe that you need to ask Jesus into your hart and forgive you of your sins.

Anyway, this is a great little movie. Go watch it at Atom Films. It's free!

amusing

[movieman_kev · 8/10 · 23 April 2004]

Robert (Richard Speight Jr, best known as Lex in the now defunct show, "The Agency") gets hit by a bus and sent to purgatory, where after he hears that his "score card" is less then stellar, he escapes. Now it's up to him to get his "good points" up enough to avoid hell In this twenty minute short. This is the first work I've seen from Ivan Reitman's little boy, Jason. And it's proof that sometimes talent doesn't skip a generation. May not be as good as some of his father's work, but I can definately see the potential. This short is pretty damn amusing.

My Short Grade: B+

Where i saw it: Atomfilms

Amusing Black Comedy

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 28 April 2014]

This is an early short film by Jason Reitman a name that rung a bell somewhere so looked him up on this site to discover he's the Canadian director of acclaimed films such as THANK YOU FOR SMOKING , JUNO and UP IN THE AIR .so that makes him relatively rare in that of the many short films I've recently seen he's gone on to having a very successful career in making feature length films

From the outset we're shown the directors talent as he uses the language of cinema such as editing as the camera pans across space on to Planet Earth and a crash zoom lens hits upon a man called Robert picking up a quarter on the a road that ends up becoming a fatal mistake . At this point I thought I might be watching a short film inspired by a rather disappointing British sit-com from the early 1980s called DEAD ERNEST that starred Andrew Sachs who found himself in Heaven and did all he could to be sent back to a mortal life . This isn't in fact how this short film pans out and despite its title and premise only the most bigoted bible basher will find anything offensive about it . It's a film dealing with redemption and contains a lot of charm and this is mainly down to Richard Speight as Robert a rather u, likable loser type character . As I said earlier the director uses some impressive camera work and keeps a consistent tone throughout and while there might be a slightly twee element it's a very enjoyable black comedy

It's Great!

[gott_milkk · 10/10 · 17 August 2000]

I thought that this little movie was really great. After seeing it I ran and told my sister about it. It was better than most of the movies I see that are regular in length.

What they should do.

[heltgalen-10774 · 9/10 · 15 October 2015]

I just watched this film. I really liked it and I really liked the idea of it. If I had the opportunity I would have gone to the main actor Richard Speight Jr and the director Jason Reitman and pitched them this short film and convinced them that they should remake this film into a feature film today, it would be a great film. I just watched this film. I really liked it and I really liked the idea of it. If I had the opportunity I would have gone to the main actor Richard Speight Jr and the director Jason Reitman and pitched them this short film and convinced them that they should remake this film into a feature film today, it would be a great film.

Enjoyable Fast Paced Short Comedy

[spikedude · 25 October 2000]

I viewed this film yesterday on a Virgin Atlantic flight from London to Newark. It was used as an opening short preceding the sophomoric comedy Road Trip. I thorougly enjoyed this fast paced short comedy. It was 15 minutes of non stop entertainment. See it if you can!

Best Short at Sundance

[Barry Spoon · 17 February 2000]

Of the 30 shorts I saw at Sundance, this was by far the best. The imagery was bright and fun. You almost want to get up and cheer for the hero throughout the film. I don't know if or when this film is going to come out but if it does---see it!

Good idea which looks good has nice comedy throughout

[bob the moo · 24 April 2014]

A man is distracted by a quarter lying on the street, which causes him to get hit by a vehicle and killed. Arriving in purgatory he is shocked to find that his records says he got sufficient negative points during his lifetime to condemn him to Hell – nothing anyone can do, it's the system. A Windows (Purgatory Edition) issue gives the man a chance and he bolts for the elevator, taking his soul back down to his body. Happy to be alive, the man discovers that the admins in Purgatory are now trying to kill him again to return him to his rightful place.

This student short film has a touch of Final Destination about it in the structure but it has more than enough of its own going on. Starting with ha surprisingly well done car accident, the film takes us into the comedic admin of the afterlife before the escape attempt which has various comic attempts to return him to death, while at the same time the man ranks up positive points without even knowing it. Generally it has a nice comic tone and some particularly funny moments, although it must be said that some of the material and delivery could have been tighter and funnier – some jokes are just okay and need a bit of carrying. The film looks and sounds good though and I was impressed by the sharp image and mostly good shooting in locations and external – okay purgatory could have done with a bit more design in there, but it works for what it is.

The acting is mostly good with only some of the weaker jokes showing the cracks – the delivery needed to step up to make them better but it doesn't. Mostly though it is a nicely written and delivered short film which is consistently amusing throughout even if not as perfectly sharp and hilarious as it could have been.