After the death of his son, every-man Tony Johnson sets out to bring those responsible to justice in William P. Cook’s short thriller The Tragedy of Senator Abe Froeman.
Coming in at just over seventeen minutes in length, Cook manages to pack a whole lot of story into the runtime. We see a lot of short films, and understandably the majority consists of one location with a couple of actors talking. I say understandably because short films are nearly always restricted by budgets, and by filmmakers not believing that they can achieve more with little at their disposal. This isn’t the case with The Tragedy of Senator Abe Froeman as we get an assassin crime thriller that takes us to deserts, busy city streets, and homes.
Recent widow Tony Johnson (Robert Lee Brown) is distracted by a news report of a school shooting that happens to be in close proximity of where he lives. It is soon made clear that his son is a victim of the incident. With his wife and only child now gone, Tony sets out to find out who is responsible, and thanks to his computer skills, he finds an assassin pretty quickly. Once he captures the assassin, he takes him to a desert on the outskirts of the city and is ready to shoot him, when the killer begs for his life and states that he never shot the child and he himself was framed by someone else. Someone from Tony’s previous life.
One thing that really stood out, was the quality of the shots. The short film oozed style. Initially, I was a little bit wary, as the first main scene shows us, Tony, in his living room. He is wearing a white shirt, and all the walls of his apartment were white also, I was hoping that the rest of the film was going to change from the bland stark whiteness, and luckily it did. From seeing Johnson on the streets, to closely following the assassin Drake Vega (Antonio J. Medina) through corridors on the way to his next hit, it all looked great. From someone who appreciates the effort made with cinematography, I can say that they put a lot of thought into their shots, the blocking, and the lighting.
Whilst there are only three characters we see on screen (the others are through telephone conversations), all three actors, the aforementioned Brown and Medina, along with Ashley Beloat as Candice, did a brilliant job. Brown was very believable as a man with a dark secret. A man who looks approachable and friendly, but is just as likely to kill you than shake your hand should you cross him. Medina does very well as the gun-for-hire too, turning in a performance that is mysterious and shadowy. Beloat, whilst having the least to do out of the three, still does very well with the material given to her.
Whilst The Tragedy of Senator Abe Froeman is a stylish short, it feels more like a pitch film, in the hopes that it will be given some money to turn into a feature film. I for one hope it does. Not only do all involved show a lot of promise, but the story, whilst not original (see Taken, The Equaliser, etc) demands to be completed. I want to know what happens, and just who Tony Johnson really is. Get it made, and I’ll buy my ticket the first day they are released to the public for sale.
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