Purely Joyful Movie!

Pretty Good

Overrated

Just what I expected

No idea what to expect and was pleasantly, hilariously surprised. What starts out as a simple narration on a personal lifestyle choice evolves into an example of the eternal struggle between yellow, squishy goodness and the apparent evil of a cocky adversary! Then the road takes an inspirational twist when our two brave combatants must put aside their differences and unite against the true enemy, the ignorance of handsome Hollywood hooligans! My fear of clowns may not be erased, but never again will I fear a giant banana clown hybrid or a massive furry penis with killer dance moves! Embrace the differences! Love your fellow (giant novelty) man. Oh yeah, loved the music too!! Kudos to everyone involved! Gotta split now, take care luv Raelynne x

This is a genius piece of short-film-making. Narrated by the writer and director of this film, Chris Dowling's voice is the only one we hear, the two 'leads' never saying a word but conveying all their emotions via the medium of dance. On the surface the idea of a film about a man dressed as a clown/banana is a bit odd...but when you see what's been done with it, how an apparently absurd film can reveal to us so much about the way we deal with problems in our lives, with change and bigotry, it makes us (well me anyway) stop and think, and it's a cracking piece of entertainment too.

What better a metaphor for life than a clown? Especially a sad clown. The more depressed, decrepit, broken-down, busted-up, and bruised the clown is, the better a metaphor for life. Perhaps this is where the majority of coulrophobia stems from. Nobody wants to look a metaphor in the eye, now do they? The truth hurts! Bananas, on the other hand, don't tend to incite fear. A banana is a nice fruit. A good fruit. Yellow, aesthetically pleasing, and smooth. Sometimes, people slip on their peels and hurt themselves, much to the merriment of all. Honest, clean fun - yes, who doesn't like bananas? What better way, then, to clean up a clown than to cross-breed it with a banana? "Madness!" you say? Well, it's not madness to Ishmael, for he is the Clownana. "The Plight of Clownana" is a short film, 16 minutes long if I was counting correctly. Written and directed by Chris Dowling, and produced by Chris and his friend Jensen Ackles, it tells the story of an ice cream store mascot, the Clownana, doing his part to repair the crappy rep of those dreaded clowns that nobody wants to look in the eye. He dances, wearing a hybrid banana-clown suit, on the corner of Olive and Beachwood, and yes he is good. It is his calling, his passion, his essence. He is bringing joy to passers-by with his awesome moves. All is peachy until a sex shop opens across the street, sending forth its own dancing mascot in the form of a giant furry dildo. Dildo man is good too. He's real good. And so begins a petty rivalry. As Clownana starts to doubt his purpose in life, he philosophizes like some kind of plushie Voltaire, his faith tested as was Candide's. At his lowest point, provoked by four jerks in a jeep, Ishmael snaps, dragging one of those insufferably smug meatheads out of the car for a throw-down. Well, I'm not going to ruin the glorious ending of this wonderful film for you. High-brow and tongue-in-cheek, "The Plight of Clownana" delivers a little shot of inspiration coupled with more than a dash of absurdity. Camus once said, "The absurd is the essential concept and the first truth." Absurd like clowns, bananas, giant fuzzy penises, dance-offs, street-fighting jocks and...absurd like, well, life.

Clownana is, quite simply, one of the funniest short films that I have ever seen! It is very cleverly written and directed by Chris Dowling, who I expect to see much more from in the future. I was fortunate to see this film at the Deep Ellum Film Festival in Dallas and the Century City Film Festival in Los Angeles. In both cases, the audience howled with laughter over the plight of the half-clown, half-banana ice cream store mascot as he battles for sidewalk supremacy over his new nemesis. Told in voice-over narrative by the title character, you understand the ups and downs of this red-nosed yellow mascot. The climax of the film comes during the final dance-off, as the street is only big enough for one store mascot. The audience response went through the roof when Clownana's nemesis introduced his two 'associates' to the proceedings in order to attempt to destroy Clownana completely. The dance sequences were amazing and the soundtrack was a perfect match for the story. An awesome effort for a new writer/director. If you can't catch it on the big screen, you can enjoy it at clownana.com. I highly recommend it.