A Gun for George (2011) User Reviews

A compelling character study.

[brianberta · 7/10 · 30 May 2022]

This short centers around Terry Finch, an unsuccessful writer of pulp-fiction crime novels who struggles to find publishing for them. Given the lack of success he finds throughout the short and the trouble he gets himself into in the process, it seems clear that he should give up. Via flashback though, it's implied his brother was killed by a group of carjackers, thus making the main character in his novels a stand-in for his brother and the act of publishing them a tribute to him. As a result, I felt sympathy for Terry and hoped for him to find success. Terry copes with the setbacks he experiences throughout the short by imagining himself as the character in his novels who "kills" the people who give him trouble throughout the short. As others have noted, these scenes are technically impressive for how they accurately recreate the look and feel of a 70's grindhouse film. They're also quite humorous given how Terry often shoots people in their balls in them. With that being said though, while this short offers a handful of interesting concepts, I don't think it wrapped itself up well. Since the short wasn't about Terry facing death, the implication that his life might be in danger at the end didn't work for me and seemed to come out of nowhere. Maybe if the short fleshed out the "fantasy and reality becoming intertwined" theme more, the ending would've appropriately chilled me. Still though, I found a lot to like about this short and I'm glad I watched it.

A touch of nostalgia isn't enough

[Horst_In_Translation · 4/10 · 21 August 2017]

"A Gun for George" is a 17.5-minute live action short film from 2011, so this one had its 5th anniversary last year. It is perhaps the most known work by writer, director and lead actor Matthew Holness and there are quite a few good things in here. I think Holness did a good job acting and directing. The film reminds me a bit of crime films starring Gene Hackman from the 1970s, so there is some nostalgia too it and it does not ring false or feel fake. Holness' lead performance is also on a good level. But sadly, the one here that never made a difference to me here is the story. Perhaps letting somebody else he be in charge of the script would have been the wiser decision. The general premise isn't bad, this is a story about a struggling writer who loses more and more grip to reality and keeps assuming he is a character from one of his works and when he gets ahold of a gun, the situation is not exactly less complicated or threatening. So yeah I must say for me this little British film did not make an impact, neither as a drama, nor as a character study, nor as a dark comedy, which is why I would not be curious about a full feature adaptation if they (i.e. Holness) ever decides to make one. Thumbs down. One component buries an otherwise fine work.