Directed by Jumai Yusuf and written by David Bickel and Michael Bickel, a barber and his client form an unlikely bond that develops over their lifetimes.
The heart of Nate & John is filled with old-fashioned sensibilities, it’s sweet, kind and has a big warmth and optimism. That’s very much reflected by its choice of animation, which feels like something you might have found twenty years ago. It has that hand-drawn, off the cuff feel, which comes with its advantages and disadvantages. It suits the sentimental nature of the short but it can feel very rough around the edges. The movement can be stiff and it struggles to build a bigger sense of individuality.
Similar could be said of the story because while its intentions are lovely, they can feel somewhat hollow. It’s undoubtedly a heart-warming friendship that builds between these two very different men but it feels like it’s purely being told for children. It’s a family friendly perspective which doesn’t necessarily dip into all the layers this story could have held.
There’s an atmosphere of education about it, as if it might be useful to help teach children about respect and racism. While there is value to that, it does feel like it’s only serving a particular audience and outside of that, it’s simply nice and that’s not quite enough. It’s unfortunately just too simple, there’s no real conflict and resolution or difficulties to overcome, it follows a path from A to B.
Nate & John feels too broad, while trying to teach about a cultural experience, it’s not giving us a more specific, individual perspective. There was the opportunity to tell a truly meaningful story but this feels like a fairly stereotypical take on race relations, and coming from a writer whose experience lies mostly in sitcoms, that makes sense. The animation is also quite rough, it’s just not getting to grips with the bigger issues which underline its story, creating something sweet but not impactful.
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