One Man's Loss (2014) User Reviews

At Least It's Self Contained

[Theo Robertson · 7/10 · 2 March 2014]

A man with absolutely nothing in life walks along an American street and finds his luck about to change . I suppose karma might have something to do with this because he does look exactly like Jesus , especially if he was played by Willem Dafoe . In fact not reading the credits until after seeing his short I was totally and absolutely convinced Dafoe might be playing the vagabond here such is the physical similarity between him and Tracy Feith . I'm guessing director Phillip Sansom might be aware of this and take note that he goes out of his way to not have the vagabond speak just in case the audience notice that it's not Dafoe's very distinctive rasping voice speaking

As it stands ONE MAN'S LOSS is one of those heart warming tales illustrating that one mans loss is another mans success and it's not difficult to see whose side the audience are meant to be on so that we feel no sympathy for the loser . I did think the film was a little bit too simplistic and when I stopped to think about it could have been developed as one of those Benny Hill type sketches where Benny gets the girl and winks to camera . That said at least this short feels genuinely self contained and isn't just a mere calling card

Not deeply but thoughtful

[seizetheday-62572 · 7/10 · 7 August 2017]

This film is not deeply, but so simple. Two main characters are a poor man with a beard and long hair who do not wear shoes and wears dirty old clothes and a rich man who wears formal clean clothes. They are in contrast. The rich man looks happy, but the happy life changes suddenly. In my opinion, people who have a lot of money are happy and winner in this world. This never change, I think. It is because we need money whatever we do, for example, going abroad, eating, hobbies and so on. If we satisfy our desires, it is not enough how much money we have. However, this film tells us that the money is not always important. If we have enough money, it does not mean happy.

What stays

[Horst_In_Translation · 6/10 · 4 March 2019]

"One Man's Loss" is an American live action short film from 2012, so this one has its 7th anniversary this year and it runs for 6 minutes plus another minute credits. The writer and director here is Philip Sansom and this is among his more known career efforts. But neither he nor any of the three cat members are well-known these days. The actors playing the couple still work in the movie industry, but the bum if you want to call him like that has apparently never been in a film before or after that. Tough to say what the reason is, physically he sure has it and I found him to be a bit of a Chris Hemsworth look-alike from Thor. Anyway, as for the story here, a woman and a man are having a heated argument in the man's apartment that results in the woman throwing the man's clothes out of the window, eventually slapping him and when he slaps her back, she runs away and gets in the car with the homeless man. Well, quite a coincidence that all these clothes fit him and also right place right time for him. He may hain a whole lot more that day other than garments. But I honestly don't see the woman here as a victim or as likable admittedly. She respects the man's possessions not one but, doesn't mind hitting him and eventually acts fairly promiscuously by getting in the car with the next best guy, only because he wears clothes that she finds attractive. So yeah the final plot twist is relatively funny and it is also a decent work in terms of camera angles and direction, but it is also a slightly shallow film that does not necessarily set the right priorities about who is likable here and who isn't. A close call overall, but I give this film a thumbs-up and a cautiously positive recommendation. Not a must-watch by any means though.

Superficial and empty as a film but slickly made and nicely entertaining for the duration

[bob the moo · 12 February 2014]

One Man's Loss is not the deepest film you'll see by any means but it does function within the very limited set of goals it sets for itself. As the title suggests, this sees a vagabond gaining from the loss of another man (specifically a pair of shoes which fly out the window due to a fight between a couple upstairs). Once you understand the idea the short film goes precisely where you know it will, but at only 6 minutes it is not such a problem as you can never get too far ahead of it. It is a very simple idea and as such I never took it as more than a throwaway film but the appeal here is the aesthetics of it.

We open with a "big" song (Summer in the City) and, although it seems strange to use it since Die Hard 3 used it so well, it does announce where the effort is because there are few short films that get such big names music and use it. Seconds later we get another Die Hard reference as our vagabond gets glass stuck in his foot, not sure if this was deliberate or not. Anyway, from here we have clean, bright cinematography which has a golden glow of warmth to it, beautiful people, beautiful location, beautifully shot and loads of style. There is not really any substance below this but this level works very well and it can more or less be enjoyed as such even if it is very much superficial and about the style of delivery. Worth a look for this, but while this is a strength it does also serve as a limiting factor.