I got an unexpected surprise when I popped this tune into the DVD player. The Dastoli Brothers are famous in the microcinema scene for their incredible visual effects capabilities and their beautiful cinematography. When it came to their stories though, I felt they always fell a bit short. Much to my surprise, That’s the Name of That Tune is not one of their typical short films.

The film opens up with one of the most crisply shot scenes I have ever seen in microcinema. The lighting on the band playing and the room of people having fun is pretty much flawless. From my experience, I have learned that 90% of making something cheap look like a million bucks is simply by lighting it right. As the film progresses, we are introduced to Paul Newman’s look-a-like, Frank (played by Byron West).

It’s at about this point where I completely forgot I was watching a Dastoli film. There are no amusement parks getting blown up by aliens, talking robots or even deep space rescue missions… This Dastoli picture sings a whole different kind of tune. While it is obvious the picture has been digitally enhanced, the main focus is the characters.

Byron West plays the leading character, an older man who is deep in debt and looking back at his life with regret. West has a lot charisma and is able to pull the audience in with his body language. What particularly grabbed me in this short was the costumes. Frank is always wearing loose fitting button-down shirts and just looks comfortable. Made me want to go out and pick up some of those shirts myself.

Robert Dastoli plays Pat, the supporting role in this short, who I must say slightly resembles a young Keanu Reeves. I’m never usually comparing people to famous actors, but for some reason my mind is going there with this one. West and Dastoli have pretty decent chemistry on screen, but doesn’t fully click until the last scene of the film.

The script occasionally dunks its head underwater for a cool cliche, but manages to stay afloat. What is most attractive about the short is the very human story it shares. Robert and James Dastoli wrote, produced, shot, edited, mixed and directed the film and gives me the very distinct impression that there is something extremely personal about this story. This vibe that I get from the film, makes me like it more than I would otherwise.

If you haven’t seen the film yet, you can watch it online at thattune.dastolidigital.com!

• Director: Robert Dastoli & James Dastoli
• Writer: Robert Dastoli & James Dastoli
• Cast: Byron West, Robert Dastoli
• Running Time: Approximately 10 minutes
• Score: ***
• More Information: thattune.dastolidigital.com
• Genre: Drama

Tags:  Byron West Dastoli Brothers digital filmmaking low-budget Microcinema