Written and directed by leading actors Scarlet Moreno and Josh Stifter, two down and out pro wrestlers commiserate after a catastrophic evening at a local, Midwest diner in the early 80s. Also starring Rickey Noren, Benjamin Terry, Meghan Carlson, Shad Cooper, Alyce D. Cooper and Antonio Lopez.
The world of 1980s wrestling is always going to be a fun one to revisit, it’s fuelled by drama, theatrics and injected with a huge amount of colour and flair. It basically gives you free rein to create any sort of character you want, for Little Lucha and the Big Deal it’s a classic underdog, a woman trying to prove her worth in a man’s world. It’s a classic set-up of film, and one that many of the era its diving into delighted in, making it even more fitting. Scarlet Moreno and Josh Stifter kick things off with a very old-school style and hitting a nice contrast between the soft music and high-action wrestling.
It’s a great starting point, it has personality and a sense of humour but once we get past that introduction, it feels like Moreno and Stifter couldn’t quite decide what they wanted this short to be. It’s stuck somewhere between parody-esque comedy and drama, and the two unfortunately don’t blend together smoothly. The comedy notes aren’t being hit hard enough and the emotion to the story isn’t entirely convincing. There is something there but without committing to a bigger personality or building a louder energy, it’s lacking in atmosphere.
However, you can clearly see the message at its core, one of believing in yourself, not giving up and not letting other people tell you what you’re capable of. It’s one that’s always going to be a solid choice, because we all love seeing people rise to a challenge. Part of the issue feels like Scarlet Moreno’s ‘The Big Deal’ is holding back, mostly going for an emotional note, one of frustration and resignation, rather than an unrelenting anger and fierceness that she had the potential for. Whereas Josh Stifter’s Lucha feels right where he needs to be, he’s youthful, fairly dumb, plenty silly but also extremely loyal and supportive. Meghan Carlson’s waitress was a nice touch to add a stronger 80s feel, a piece of classic Americana.
Little Lucha and the Big Deal starts out on solid footing and round things out well but gets lost in the middle. It’s sitting on the fence between comedy and sincerity and not doing justice to either, preventing it from building a tangible atmosphere or clear tone. It feels as though the ingredients are there but it needed to loosen up a bit, to throw itself into the melodramatic and theatricality to really pack a punch.
FilmCarnage.com 