Such a frustrating disappointment

It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

While it is a pity that the story wasn't told with more visual finesse, this is trivial compared to our real-world problems. It takes a good movie to put that into perspective.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

"The Parlor" is a 10-minute short film from almost 15 years ago written and directed by Geoffrey Haley, who is actually a successful cameraman who worked on many big Hollywood films. In this short film here, he gives us his take of what it would be like to actually be in a room with the people you meet in a chat room. A man in his 40s says he is 15 to impress a 14-year-old girl. A boy who is actually the same age of the girl says he is 20 to impress her as well. Nobody cares about the obese honest woman. A man confesses his homosexuality to another man, who, on the other hand, thinks he is talking to a girl. This is a totally hilarious little movie, which also has some nice dramatic moments. However, I wish Haley would have taken a completely different path with the ending. It was nicely done how he switched the action from physical room reality to real room reality, but the final scene was a big no-go. Too unrealistic for my taste. I wish he'd have shown us how the chat room people actually exist in real life, how they leave the room, maybe go to dinner with their wives/husbands instead of hurting this movie with a truly ridiculous and unfunny ending. Still, overall a pretty good watch. Thumbs up and I hope Haley is going to write and direct some more in the future.

I've just caught this short film on the SciFi channel in the UK. Very important: Don't read reviews of it (including this one beyond the first paragraph), they will undoubtedly give the game away and spoil the fun realisation at the end. Spoiler warning.This film is simply magnificent, if you have ever spent any time in a chat room it will have you smiling at the end. The real genius is in convincing you that it is some kind of group therapy session, and then maybe a role-playing therapy session. You simply cannot understand why one guy calls himself Beth and why a 50 year-old guy is sitting next to a 15 year old talking dirty - and why does the guy get thrown out by the police for swearing? And then at the end it all becomes clear... and you desperately want to see it again to pick up all the things you missed.Simply brilliant. Don't spoil it for others by giving the game away though.

I found this on a friend's profile on Instant Messenger, and at first had no idea what it was. Up until the last two minutes or so, I was very confused, but I'm glad I kept watching until the end ... upon finishing the clip, I came to IMDb to see exactly what it was: a short film, an excerpt from something, etc. I would love to see this more of this man's work; I'd REALLY like to see this piece go to Cannes or Sundance if it hasn't already -- I can see it winning an award. Definitely check it out.

It takes a few minutes to understand what is going on, but that moment of realization is immensely satisfying, as you realize, "I've done that!" A very witty satire with a great ending. Can't wait to see more from the director.