The Receipt (2005) User Reviews

Lacks individual and comedic creativity

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 3 March 2017]

"The Receipt", also known as "The Rece!pt", is an American 16-minute short film from 2005, so this one is over a decade old already. The writer and director is Tim Garrick and this is one of the more known works from his admittedly not very prolific career. he took a break of almost 10 years after this one here and returned by making an apparently really horrible teenager-oriented movie starring Nat Wolff, Selena Gomez, Mary-Louise Parker and Elisabeth Shue. Anyway, lets talk about that one on another occasion. It is obviously a little spoof of the famous German film "Lola rennt", so it already comes short in terms of being an individual creative achievement. But what is even worse is that it almost never, apart from 1 or 2 moments, delivers on the comedic front either. The only reason it is still somewhat known today, 12 years later, is because Kristen Bell appears in it and also because you can watch it on Funnyordie. For me, this would definitely be a "die" and honestly the rating here on IMDb is very accurate. 4 stars out of 10 is still really generous and looking at other reviews, there seems to be something fishy here. Anyway, as a whole I do not recommend it to anybody, especially not to people who like "Run Lola Run" a lot more than I do. Actually, these are the ones who will maybe hate it the most. Go for something else instead.

Hilarious homage to Run Lola Run

[uncle_kyle · 10/10 · 30 September 2005]

The Rece!pt is based loosely on Run Lola Run, an excellent film that was more of a suspense/drama/romance. You don't need to have seen the original to enjoy this short comedy, though; that's a testament to how well the story was developed. The writers took the basic concept - that one member of a couple needs the other's help, but only if they can show up quickly enough - and make the most of it in about 15 minutes of screen time. The same basic structure is followed as in Run Lola Run. I'm a big fan of "Lola", but I think they've actually improved on it here. This is a leaner script, each piece really building strongly on the last, with an excellent production backing it up. The actors really seem to accept their surrealistic world and work naturally within it (even the smaller parts become important in telling the story, such as Kristen Bell's "Pretty Girl" scenes). Something else of note - the music and editing are superb. In particular, there are several scenes with outstanding synchrony between images and music. It's obvious that a lot of care went into making this film.

This is a great example of a true homage - it's not a strict parody, it's not derivative, it's just very funny while staying true to the characters.

If you've seen "Run Lola Run!", you'll get even more out of this short film, but even if you haven't, it's very worth your time.

This short film played at the San Diego Film Festival among a collection of short comedy films. Short films don't tend to make it to the video store or to netflix :( Hopefully The Rece!pt will make its way around the festival circuit, so if you get a chance to see it, do so.

Don't Forget The Receipt!!

[adam_vargas · 10/10 · 16 June 2006]

The first thing I thought of after seeing The Receipt was, "Wow, that was incredible!! What a great little film in just 15 minutes: The camera angles/movements, the story, the effects, the acting, the music, the humor and the vibrant colors!! My senses were in heaven!!"

I'm told it is an homage to a foreign film cult classic. I'll be honest, I've never seen Run Lola Run, which apparently The Receipt is a take off of. After seeing it, and laughing like the crazy person you always make fun of at the theater, my interest was peaked.

The lines in this movie, courtesy of Tim Garrick and Analisa Brouet are so funny and quick. One of my favorites, delivered by the beautiful Venus (Dina Meyer), "You have no idea what's up my ass!!" Who says that??? I need to see this again as I know I probably missed a few one liners. My favorite character however, as she delivers some of the funniest and most sarcastic lines, would have to be the Bitch Clerk portrayed by Elizabeth Keener. She is hysterical, and makes it look so effortless! The pulsing techno/electronica score keeps the energy of the film surging to the very end. Kudos to Brian Ralston for that! Also quite fun is the end credits song by Michael Mewborne, "I'm A Mess".

This is a great short!! The is no question as to why this film has won awards!! It Rocks!! A must see!! Now I gotta go rent, Run Lola Run!!

Excellent short with amazing attention to detail

[VWDiesel · 10/10 · 9 February 2006]

I saw this short as part of the Cinequest Viewers Voice Online Film Festival, and found the film highly entertaining and extremely funny. I'm a huge fan of all of Tom Tykwer's films, and have been since I saw "Run Lola Run". As such, I was really impressed with the meticulous attention to detail that was paid in this short. This film does an outstanding job of capturing the look, feel, and sound of "Run Lola Run", and there are many examples in the film's set, cinematography, and music that illustrate the respect that the filmmakers and composer clearly have for "Run Lola Run". It works beautifully as an homage, and at the same time the characters and dialog were well-executed and clever, giving the film a unique voice that allows it to succeed independent of whether the viewer has seen "Run Lola Run" or not.

On top of all that, it's flat-out hilarious. There are more than a few lines of memorable dialog and one viewing definitely wasn't enough for me. Hopefully it will make its way to the east coast so I can have a chance to see it locally on the big screen.

Really Really enjoyed this film!

[wipsplash · 10/10 · 28 January 2008]

This film is first class. The camera work, music and story all hit their marks with precision. I can only imagine how difficult it was to get the timing and story of this short film to flow so well together. I think the perfect cast were chosen for their parts. I found each cast member humorous with complete believability for each of their roles.

The Receipt is hilarious with the right balance of complexity. I'm glad that I had the opportunity to view it and would like to thank Mr Ralston and everyone behind The Receipt for making it possible.

I watched the film Run Lola Run immediately after viewing The Receipt and then watched The Receipt again. I think doing that let me have the best appreciation for the film.