One of the competition short films out of Speakeasy Shorts, Mary Ratliff's The Interview is based upon a true story from Stephanie Garibaldi that centers that thing that virtually everyone does but no one wants to acknowledge ... the job interview lie.

In this case, Stephanie Garibaldi (Julie Roundtree) is in the job hunt and oversells herself trying to snag an interview. When she does, she tests her ability to stretch the truth even further despite being completely aware that she's in way over her head.

In just over seven minutes, Ratliff creates a breezy and entertaining short film entered as part of the first Speakeasy Shorts competition. While we're kind of used to the concept of a 48-hour filmmaking competition, Speakeasy gave production teams just a bit more breathing room. Ratliff and her production crew had to write, shoot and edit the film in only five days. The finished product? Sure, it essentially looks like a quickly put together film - That's a huge part of the point, however. The finished product is also a well made, entertaining and fun film featuring two fine performances from Julie Roundtree, as Garibaldi, and John C. Bailey as Captain Bailey.

The film was made on an incredibly modest $500 production budget, a relatively common budget when it comes to these quick film competitions. These competitions aren't so much about churning out cinema ready material as they are about honing one's craft and building a network.

Zac Visco's camera work is solid throughout, while Barbara Buchanan's music accompanies the film quite nicely. While it's not likely you'll find The Interview playing in any theaters any time soon, it's a terrific little short film from Mary Ratliff that makes you want to see what she can do when given an appropriate amount of time and a decent budget.

© Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic