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iconOh boy. I quite honestly have NO idea what to say about this one. Not that it offends me, however - it might offend others, therefore I am going to be very brief with my remarks. I debated not putting a review and synopsis up at all - for fear of offending folks - and still,  I almost feel like I should post a disclaimer anyway simply for Gerry's sake stating that it's part of his professional résume and therefore it gets reviewed by me.  I am not here to give a ruling on the decency and integrity of the role - I am merely here to state whether or not I felt he did a good job with it. My opinion? Yes. He did. Bottom line? He's funny. Not "fall-down-roll-on-the-floor-die-of-laughter-funny" - but funny nonetheless. Sort of dopey, dorkey funny. The film was made in 2001 by Ariel Vromen and is a 15 -18 minute short. Good thing. It's a take on a really old joke - which really ought to prove to one and all that not only does Gerry have a sense of humor but great comedic timing as well.  He'd really have to in order to do what he had to do for this film.  The uniforms? Don't get me started -(remember I used to be a costume designer about a million years ago) and there is no way that ANY officer would have had hair as long as Gerry's  - so obviously it's not wonderful, and made on shoestring budget, but it's honestly not that bad either. My understanding (and I may be completely off the mark so don't quote me here) is that it was a student film.  The "making of" portion is actually funnier than that actual short itself and really worth the watch - provided that the initial film doesn't offend. It might. Like I said, some like it, some don't. It most definitely will not interest everyone.

iconThe storyline revolves around Captain Charles Bellamy,  a French Foreign Legion Officer who is posted to the desert and is homesick and very much missing his lovely wife. Letters are exchanged between them which naturally just frustrate him. There is a camel at the post that all of the men treat with utmost respect and she is called the "Jewel of The Sarah."  After smoking a little opium, he of course fantasizes about his wife, and prompted to "ride" the camel by a local named Mahmud - he misunderstands and gets kicked to death.  To give the film a bit of a plot, we see  the good captain's son visiting a now aged Renaud, a French officer at the post with Bellamy, trying to get to the bottom of how his father died. I'm not telling the punchline. (insert gigantic smiley here)

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Page © Dubhodhar July 22, 2006

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