“Sweet Caroline” is a short written and directed by Luke d. Nowell. It’s kind of chaotic, kind of all over the place, and blends the cinematography of a high-paced, multi-character crime story with the crisp, high-def shots many of today’s independent films are known for. It has capable acting; the biggest problem here is a lack of character development, depth, and a solid plot.
So the basic premise here is that a one friend, Andrew, calls his friend James, panicked that he lost his backpack and “books” at his mother’s elementary school. I put books in parentheses because with a cursory opening narration, we are led to believe that there’s not really books inside, but something more indecent. The two then embark on a mission to sneak into the elementary school to retrieve the item.
As shorts go, this film is really short, finishing at a accelerated 8 minutes. This makes it the shortest short I’ve ever seen. Trying to squeeze images, a message, and art into a 35-minute film (as I’ve seen with Trent England’s “Paperthin,”) is hard enough. 8 minutes is really short. And I feel it might have been too short here.
The problem is that we never get a clear idea of who these two guys are. We get the impression that James is a shy, still trying to get over his ex-girlfriend type, and that Andrew is kind of a mystery. And a jerk. But really that’s all the exposition we get.
The trip inside the school isn’t really filled with tests of manhood, coming of age material, or anything of that much substance. There’s a run in with a possible love interest for James named Caroline, who is a janitor. The film uses this as fodder for a couple of under the table immigrant jokes at Caroline and James’ expense. We learn a little bit here: James is reeling from an ex that left him and just wants his friend to help him win a nice girl. We also see that Andrew is not this type of friend.
Acting-wise, the film is good. Trey Carlson, who plays James, is decent, and does the best he can with a short script that really paints him as Andrew’s lackey, not a flesh and blood character. He’s basically nervous or the butt of Andrew’s jokes the entire time, or entirely inconsequential – whatever the script demands. It feels as though Nowell really just wants this film to be about how demanding Andrew can be, but we’re not really sure.
Jeremy Keys (Andrew), on the other hand, is the better actor in the short, and really does a good job here. You’re not meant to terribly like him, and Keys makes sure of it. Scenes of him talking over James, or basically looking through Caroline Hannah Vickery, paint him to be a selfish kind of guy. Another scene where he does less than help James woo the beautiful Caroline (which I will not spoil), show him to really just be a bully. But the problem is, this is not played for comedy, but as plot. The film’s not really a satire, and it is kind of confusing and bombastic.
Like I said, this film is shot really well. The shots are crisp, and scenes like forests and the elementary school are rendered flawlessly. I especially liked the fast-shifting camera work that is used to display the duo texting, posting things online, and the like. It’s shot kind of like 2002’s “The Rules of Attraction,” with quick cuts back and forth and tons of information packed into its run-time. It shows a good start for cinematographer Julian Gordon, who is also the film’s editor. I would like to see more of his work in the future.
At the end of the day, “Sweet Caroline” is just kind of confusing and has a short attention span. I would have loved to have seen more character development, or a better plot arc, for any of the cast involved, because they are all fun to watch. But unfortunately we don’t get this kind of treatment. With the acting and camerawork Nowell and Gordon were able to bring to the table, “Sweet Caroline” deserved a plot to match.
– by Mark Ziobro
