Lunches With Mel is a stylish and fun six-minute short film starring Aaron Weinstein in a story based upon his own life experiences trying to make a living as a jazz violinist in New York with an aging and increasingly out of touch, but very funny, manager.

The punchline, I suppose, starts off with the fact that Weinstein himself plays both roles in the film, the jazz violinist and his manager. Lunches With Mel has a look and feeling that simultaneously feels like both a 50's serial comedy and a Seinfeld episode.  The film is the kind of film that makes you smile when it shows up in a festival's comedy block of programming, an instantly bright and energizing film with a performance by Weinstein that makes you laugh without his even having to say a single word.

Weinstein's script has a jazzy vibe, as well, and his performance as legendary agent Mel Howard brings to mind the delicious old school comedy sketches that still make you laugh years after their origin.

Weinstein contributes the film's music that greatly contributes to the film's cool and jazzy vibe, while Jonathan Mariande's lensing is pristine and perfect. Director Alex Beh keeps the film moving at a nice clip and, at a mere six minutes, manages to tell the story without wasting a single second.

Lunches With Mel was only recently completed and should have no problem finding a home on the indie film fest circuit with its unique vibe and entertaining presentation.

© Written by Richard Propes 
The Independent Critic