Who payed the critics

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

I gave this film a 9 out of 10, because it was exactly what I expected it to be.

One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

"The Man Who Never Cried" is an American 25-minute short film from 5 years ago. The writer and director here is Bradley Jackson. Lead actor is Keir O'Donnell. Honestly, after watching this film I am not too surprised that these two did not manage big breakthroughs in the years since this was made, especially Jackson. It is a very try-hard attempt at comedy and drama and at times it is almost painful to watch how desperate this film seems in trying to evoke emotion from its audience. The problem is that nothing feels really authentic in this film. But it does make obvious again how scary clowns are really. At no point, I cared for the main character and its badly written actions. I do not recommend watching one and people who give it a 10/10 should really ask themselves if this is a contender for best film of all time. Enough said. Thumbs down from me.

This was an endearing short film with great performances all around. A novel concept keeps you interested until the end. The story follows Ralph "Rafe" Winston, a professional clown who has peculiarly never cried in his life, not even from the death of his father. He meets Ginny, a client who has hired him for her son's birthday. The two develop a more intimate relationship as the film progresses culminating in a heart-touching ending. The style of the film resembles Big Fish and Little Children--not a bad thing since those are great films. Jess Weixler (Teeth) and Keir O'Donnell (My Generation) put in noteworthy performances as well. The film is capped off by a great score from veteran Halli Cauthery (The Town).