Written and directed by Connor Raithby, co-written by Tevone Wilkinson, after John receives a call from his friend regarding his absence at a party, a piece of stationery speaks to him unexpectedly, which is revealed to be his stapler. Cautiously, John tries to get to know the Stapler to see what he can learn. Starring: Robert Paul, Jason Anthony, Melissa Jayka Parish, Thomas Deacon and Annabel Davis.
The concept of inanimate objects coming to life is pretty much always a fun one, it fits nicely along with unusual, unexpected friendships. Giving characters a new perspective and making them look at their own lives, it’s a solid choice and that’s what Connor Raithby and Tevone Wilkinson go for with Stapler. It’s a playful idea and there’s a good sense of humour at work but the runtime presents a challenge. Trying to keep that comedy going for over twenty minutes is a difficult task for any filmmaker, and here it doesn’t feel like there was enough to justify it.
There’s a solid story at work but going for that longer runtime undercuts its effectiveness rather than giving it room to grow. It doesn’t allow for the key moments to pack a punch when they’re extending themselves, missing out on a snappier note. It feels as though Stapler needed to get more creative with the editing, to expand the energy, up the pace or add in a bigger personality to match its quirky feel.
Similar can be said of the directorial style from Connor Raithby, it works, they’re decently framed shots but it’s also very safe. The choices don’t embrace the unusual element of the writing, to play around with it and have more fun. It’s something that stands out more when the acting and dialogue can also be quite stiff, they’re missing an organic feel. With the exception of Jason Anthony‘s voice work as the titular Stapler which has a nicely casual feel, it’s charming with a good edge of sarcasm.
There was an interesting potential to lean in further, add a bizarre edge or a bigger unpredictability before revealing itself. Particularly when that reveal is losing its impact by lengthening itself more than it needed to. The dialogue can at times be overwhelmed by the score, it’s a nice addition to match with the playful tone but it needed to be scaled back a bit occasionally and let the comedy take the lead.
The cinematography is also of mixed success, it can have a strange yellowish hue to it which takes away from its definition. As the shot style is quite simple, it could have used something sharper to help accent it.
Stapler has a fun concept and good sense of humour but it’s limiting the effectiveness of the story when it’s stretching itself too far. There was the potential for a bigger impact if it could speed itself up and use a sharper, imaginative hand with its editing. The unusual quality of its story isn’t bleeding into the direction, it would have been satisfying to see the two could match up more strongly.
FilmCarnage.com 