“Popsy”, by Jon Mann . A.K.A ” The one with the best poster ever!”
People say “don’t judge a book by its cover” and they are right, you should not do it. But, let me say that you shouldn’t judge, but you should allow yourself to check it out if you are curious about it. And if there is one thing we can say about Jon Mann Dollar Baby is that his version of “Popsy” is not only a great Dollar Baby but also it has a killer poster, one of the most creative posters I have ever seen in my life. Do you doubt it? Check it out.
That might not say too much for you if you did not have the chance to watch the movie, but if you remember the original short story you probably will get it.
“Popsy” is one short story where King shows us in just a few pages why he is known as Master of Horror. It is a quick short story, you can read it in half an hour or 40 minutes and I promise that you will have a hell of fun. Quick story, right to the chase and with the potential to scare the hell of you. And that is exactly what Jon Mann also achieved in his short movie. Mann’s version of “Popsy” is exactly like King meant in his short story: a quick horror story with a hell of a plot twist.
The story introduces us to a man called Sheridan, a guy who kidnaps kids. In the original short story Sheridan does that to deliver the kid to a Turkish guy who pays him a lot of money to pay his gambling debts. Now, Jon chose not to show us the Turkish guy and Sheridan’s problems with money and I do think that it was a great choice of his, because the most important for the story is that the guy kidnaps kids and what happens during this kidnap. So, by not adapting the Turkish guy and the money problems Jon gives us a quicker movie, very dynamic, without losing the heart of the tale. Jon Mann was also the screenwriter, so because of this choice I must applaud him, man… Jon, thank you for such a well adapted screenplay, I couldn’t do it better. The Stephen King fan in me stands up and applauds you man.
Another thing that I loved about this Dollar Baby were the easter eggs, they were fun to find, but not so easy. For instance, at the very beginning the main character is driving his van while he is listening to some news on the radio. They are talking about the death of River Phoenix, the young actor who was in a beautiful King’s movie called “Stand By Me“. Of course you would only notice that if you are a freak fan of King’s work like I am, but it was very cool. The second easter egg was not that subtle: it was a funko pop of Pennywise. That was pretty cool too since I myself have the same funko pop in my collection. A fun fact about these two easter eggs that I had just mentioned, something that I found out right here in SKSM by reading the interviews of Jon Mann and Robert Ramsay: In Jon’s interview I found out not only that the main reason that he chose this short story was because of his mom, but I also found out that “Stand By Me” is the favourite movie of Jon’s Sister. Now, Robert Ramsay is the main actor of this Dollar Baby and in his interview I found out that he also worked in the long feature movie “It”. So, coincidence or two easter eggs? I would put my money on the second option. The third easter egg was subtle in the same way the radio news was: Sheridan is wearing a Red Sox hat when he meets the kid at the mall. And, if you know King’s work you do know that he is a huge fan of the Red Sox. Once again, coincidence or an easter egg? Well, considering that it is a Canadian short movie and they do prefer Hockey, once again I would bet on the second option.
Now, let’s talk about the cast. Jon Mann did a great job choosing his cast, Robert Ramsay was not only the movie producer but also a great choice to play this character. Not only because of his talent as an actor but also because with those glasses on and the Red Sox’s hat,man, he does look like a guy who would kidnap kids. No offense, Robert. But I would never let my kid next to you if you were using these glasses hahahahahaha. Jokes aside, Robert did a hell of a job, when he was talking to the kid trying to convince him to enter the Van, man, I do believe that Sheridan is used to talking to kids, to convince them to follow him. The tone in his voice, man… Robert, thank you for that, because a father’s worst nightmare is to think that his kid could find a Sheridan. Your acting gave me goosebumps, man, thank you for that.
But the greatest acting at this short movie came from the kid, Avery Winters- Anthony. Man, that kid nailed! And I need to congratulate not only the kid’s talent but also (once again) Jon Mann’s choice. Because the kid is amazing, he truly makes the audience believe that he is a frightened kid that is lost and about to trust the wrong guy. And later, at the plot twist, man… The kid has some future as an actor, believe me. And now, getting back to Jon Mann, dude ( I was about to write “man”, but realized that it would be “Mann , man” ) dude, I already said in previous reviews how difficult it is to work with kids, with young kids in the cast. But Mann not only chose the perfect kid for the part of this movie, but also took the best of him, Jon did know how to make this kid work in the role. Jon, Avery, thank you so much for what you guys did in this short story.
And last but not least, the cinematography is also something to applaud at this Dollar Baby, I really loved it. The way Jack Leahy shooted those indoor scenes inside the Van, the Red light, man, that was beautiful. But also, at the beginning Leahy put the camera attached to the van’s door in a way that it was perfectly placed not only to shoot the main actor behind the wheels, but also after he opens the door the camera follows (of course) and later is still shooting perfectly the actor when he goes to other side and open the slide doors. Man, that is cinema, thank you for that.
The Dollar Baby’s grade? We from SKSM give 5 fingers from the dead guy’s hand. Yeah, once again all 5 fingers. But there is something odd about these fingers, some of them have bite marks, but really small ones…
That is it for today, guys. See you next time.
Leonardo Granado
