The animated short Fine Dining resulted from a screenwriting challenge in which the filmmaker, Usher Morgan, was asked to replace the main characters in their favorite dialogue-driven scene with folklore characters and to rewrite the dialogue based upon the characters introduced. This result, filmed over the course of four months and painted/processed frame-by-frame, was inspired by the opening scene to Tarantino's Pulp Fiction and tells the story of a tired old vampire (Joel Bernard) who is determined to abandon the path of effortless consumption and give in to his long abandoned animal instinct. 

Both humorous in presentation and a spot-on selection for such a screenwriting challenge, Fine Dining's unique style of animation actually triggered a Pulp Fiction flashback for this critic even before I'd read the motivation behind the film. 

Vocal work is solid throughout Fine Dining, Joel Bernard's classic take possessing a tongue-in-cheek quality with just a hint of menace, while Elyse Price's Lisa Bear possessing a youthfulness that plays quite perfectly alongside Bernard. 

For more information on Fine Dining, visit the film's website linked to in the credits. 

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic