The Realtor, a short film by Edward Anthony Mendoza, starts off with a lot of promise, but does not quite live up to its potential.  The short stars a funny Dean St. Louis as a realtor from Zero One Realty that promises he will find you the “perfect” house within 30 days or you get 12 free meals.  Entering the fray are Kevin and Tracy (Jim Gulliford and Kira Hasher, repectively) who decide that, even though St. Louis has found them the perfect house, they’re going to decline just to get the 12 free meals.

The short has loads of potential.  St. Louis shows an appropriate “over the top” performance as the slick and TV saavy realtor, playing the part with complete abandon.  The premise is also simple and could offer plenty of laughs.  And director Mendoza approaches the material in a farcical way, with “zany” sound bites thrown in to accentuate the humor.

But, in the end, the material of the short becomes flat as St. Louis simply grows exponentially agitated.  Here Mendoza tries to ramp up the humor by adding some clever, simple effects, but the end of the heated discussion ends where one expects.  A slight twist and humorous ending complete the short on a positive note, but, other than St. Louis’ performance, the overall impact leaves us thinking how much funnier this short could have been.  I look forward to seeing more of Mendoza’s work.

Two and 1/2 stars.