In God We Trust (2000)

A speeding truck sends Robert into purgatory, with the probability of a warm climate. He escapes to Earth and tries to fix things before purgatory catches up with him.

Director:

Jason Reitman

Writer:

Jason Reitman

Stars:

Richard Speight Jr., Jeff Witzke, Shelley Berman

8 wins & 2 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Richard Speight Jr.	...	Robert
Jeff Witzke	...	Gil
Shelley Berman	...	Manny
Jim O'Heir	...	Foreman
Phillip MacIvor	...	Bobby Jr.
Cynthia Davila	...	Ashley
Wendy Braun	...	Welcomer
Bill Birch	...	Paramedic
Michael Loprete	...	Paramedic
Mary Jo Smith	...	Dancer
Heather Brown	...	Teenager
Paulina Gretzky	...	Pink girl
Tim Crane	...	Robber
Jim Thoms	...	Vagrant
Lee Weaver	...	Big Man

Storyline

While standing in the middle of the street contemplating the motto on a quarter, Robert is killed by an on-coming SUV. In the waiting room of the afterlife, a punctilious clerk, Gil, pulls up Robert's record on the computer and tells the young man that he's damned. Lots of little bad things have added up, and his score is negative. Robert bolts back to earth, with Gil and his colleagues in hot pursuit. Robert visits his girlfriend, drinks a smoothie with his dad, foils a robbery, and dances. His positive points are accumulating as Gil (and death) close in. Is it up or down for our Bobby? Little things can mean a lot.

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Plot Keywords:

purgatory | death | sin | hell | heaven | 

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Genres:

Comedy | Short

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Did You Know?

Quotes

Gil: So, wasn't looking both ways?
Robert: [slight pause] I'm dead, huh?
Gil: Oh, thank God. If I have to explain to one more person that they won't be seeing their kids again... Everyone is *soooo* special.

User Reviews

Amusing Black Comedy

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

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

27 January 2000 (USA)

Also Known As:

Богу мы доверяем

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Watch Out for the Bears Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

17 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1