A group of four rag-tag thieves have just robbed a bank. There's a doofus, a no-nonsense tough chick, a cool and collected ring leader and a suave idiot, all of whom have just managed to come away with a large amount of money. Cramming themselves into a Volkswagen Beetle, they rendez-vous with the local crime boss at an abandoned building. But the situation goes awry because nothing is as it seems -- and no one seems to know what is going on. Directed by Ryan Polly from a script co-written with Matt Black, this entertaining comedy short is a rousing, energetic throwback to classic 70s and 80s crime and heist films. Rendered in a dynamic, muscular visual style that blends 70s visual grit with the high-octane camera movement of today's thrillers, it's filled with great affection for the genre, even as it sends up its conventions and cliches with a knowing, ironic eye, a goofball sense of humor and a whole lot of panache. The storytelling begins at a high point in the action, just after a not-quite-fabulous crew of four (played by actors Eden Lee, Gunner Willis, Andre De'Sean Shanks and Jacob Daniels) rob a bank and gather for the next step. But the real storyline is the unraveling of the tenuous team dynamic that made such an action possible -- a dynamic whose disintegration makes the next steps of the operation impossible unless they get back on the same page. The characters and situation are quickly established, making clear how mismatched the band of thieves are: Sophie is direct and aggressive, Keegan the voice of strategic calm and reason, Harry is bumbling but sweet and Tommy is an idiot convinced he's a lot smoother than he is. And just as quickly, the situation falls apart, as they realize they're not what they appear. They're not thieves, but undercover cops from the FBI, CIA, DEA and LAPD. And they're at odds, just as they face their most dangerous situation yet. Appealing to fans of heist films, cop comedies and crime capers, "I Bet You're Wondering How I Got Here" is broad from the comedy to the characterization to the dialogue, but that broadness is part of the appeal, like a big hug that this group desperately needs. Good-natured, audaciously chaotic and impeccably crafted, the storytelling careens from one development to the next, sending up standoffs, role reversals, double-crosses and the like and compressing it all into an impressively well-paced and compact package. It all aims to entertain above all else and succeeds, pulling viewers into a crime caper with buoyancy and an infectious sense of fun.
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I Bet You're Wondering How I Got Here
