Movie review: Cyn

I'll come right out and say it: I'm generally not a big fan of short movies. Unless they're created by someone I know personally (my brother, Nathan Samdahl, is in film school down in L.A.) or are some extremely funny little thing (I'm a fan of those Pixar shorts), short movies are just not my thing. The reason: I like really fleshed out stories, and short movies don't allow for such.

Cyn, directed by Alex Ferrari, is a five-minute short about a woman who finds herself in bad position: tied to a chair with two idiot henchmen standing guard over her, both with guns. Unfortunately for them, this woman isn't who she seems, and she quickly manipulates herself into a position of power.

The concept is intriguing, and clearly a setup for a bigger film to come at some point. The title character (is it Cyn?) is pretty and lethal, and could definitely be a good protagonist given a longer movie. As is, everything moves so fast that nothing seems overly real - before you know it, she's escaped and taken advantage of the two idiots. She plays mind games with them for a split second, but this satisfying moment doesn't last long enough. Of course, I'm not saying anything the director doesn't already know: obviously, in a longer version, we won't be introduced to three characters and have everything wrapped up nice and neat in a couple of minutes.

So, looking at this is a pitch piece for a more substantial picture, I see potential. The concept is definitely there, and the lead could be good enough to make the transfer to a bigger movie. One of the henchmen really isn't a very good actor (though the dialogue is so fast and forced at times it's hard to tell) and probably wouldn't make the cut, but the other one is pretty good. Technically speaking, Cyn looks pretty good, though I would like to see it even grittier and grainier, more like Grindhouse.

Overall, I liked it, didn't love it, but I see the potential. What was most appealing to me, strangely enough, is the end credits: they really look kick-ass. Also, the marketing material for the movie (the website and movie posters) are also very professional looking.

I look forward to seeing a longer version of Cyn at some point down the line.