A Year in Shorts Day 103: "I'll Wait for the Next One..."

Over the course of our Year in Shorts, we’ve discussed several films which I’ve called “One Joke Shorts”; that is to say, short films whose runtime mostly serves as a setup for a single punchline. Some were quite good; some were terrible. It all comes down to execution and- of course- how funny the punchline in question is. Luckily for our continued Valentine’s Day celebration, the punchline to Philippe Orreindy’s I’ll Wait for the Next One… is pretty darn funny.

(via TV Tropes)


Released in 2002 (but only eligible for the Academy Awards celebrating the films of 2003), I'll Wait for the Next One... is a French short following a lonely, nameless woman (Sophie Forte) taking the metro to work one day. Her train ride is interrupted by a man (Thomas Gaudin) who declares he's been single for three years (boy I wonder what that's like) and is looking for any available woman who might be interested. A bit forward, but you have to give him points for moxie.



As far as one joke shorts go, I'll Wait for the Next One... is pretty good. It perhaps stretches on a bit too long (which is strange to say about a short that only lasts four minutes), with the diversion from the loud mouthed passenger (Pascal Casanova) seemingly only there for the sake of adding on to the run time. Normally that's a bit of a nitpick, but a short like this really lives or dies on its script; the direction is efficient but nothing special, and the acting is a bit stilted. If this script isn't tight as a drum, the cracks begin to show.

Still, the short has a decent setup and the punchline is almost hilariously cruel, which is sort of fun. It's good to see a romance short that acknowledges that putting yourself out there is scary as well as exciting, and it doesn't always work out. It might not be the most romantic short in the world, but there's a good chance that it might be the one you need this Valentine's season.


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