My Best Friend's Birthday (1987)

User Rating:

5.8/10   

Director:

Quentin Tarantino

Writers:

Craig Hamann (written by)
Quentin Tarantino (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Short

Plot:

It's Mickey's Birthday and his girlfriend just left him, so that's when his friend Clarence shows him a birthday he'll never forget. |

Plot Keywords:

Cult Favorite | Call Girl | Partially Lost Film | Multiple Story Line | Cocaine

Cast

Craig Hamann	...	Mickey Burnett
Quentin Tarantino	...	Clarence Pool
Crystal Shaw	...	Misty
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Allen Garfield	...	Entertainment Magnate
Al Harrell	...	Clifford
Brenda Hillhouse	...	Wife
Linda Kaye	...	Ex-Girlfriend
Stevo Polyi	...	Deejay
Alan Sanborn	...	Nutmeg, Radio Station Receptionist
Rich Turner	...	Oliver Brandon
Rowland Wafford	...	Lenny Otis

Runtime:

USA:69 min | 34 min (surviving fragments)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Trivia:

The film was completed, but the final reel was destroyed in a lab fire that broke out during editing. The surviving part of the film was shown in part to a small crowd in early 1987.

Quotes:

Oliver Brandon: [coming out of Mickey's bathroom, covering his nose] Man, whoo! Talk about dropping a cheese bomb!
[sniff]
Oliver Brandon: I wouldn't go in there for about an hour if I was you.

Movie Connections:

References Little Cigars (1973)

Soundtrack:

Ballroom Blitz

Thank God Fate Eschewed This Film For Reservoir Dogs

Tarantino's would-be debut film fortunately was not his actual debut film. There are a few fun scenes, but telling by the thirty-five minutes from which we're able to discern, his proclaimed "Martin & Lewis homage" is a forgettable, homophobic implosion of his pop culture-consumed mind.

At least it's SOMETHING different from Tarantino in one respect, and that is that it's a comedy. There are a few laughs but not enough even for thirty-five minutes. However I do admire the fact that even though this makes no exception to Tarantino's filmography of nothing but homages to other movies, it bears no resemblance to a Martin & Lewis film at all. So he did manage to branch out further than an overt mock-up of the framework of what he intended to pay.