GHOSTED– 2 STARS

It doesn’t take a long time to leave a first impression. That understanding statement can be said in the film world as well as in the universe of relationships. From tiny human stories to the biggest blockbusters, most often the first five minutes of a movie set its tone. You can feel if you’re going to like the time you’ve committed to spend. The same can be said for the real-life “Meet Cute” moment of a first date. The short film Ghosted from writer-director Keith Black presents a first impression for this critic in both those areas.

The swanky mood of Cole Porter’s “Begin the Beguine” opens Ghosted to show a man name Dan (Keith himself) in his parked car. He’s middle-aged, but rocking a good head of hair and clearly feels fashionable in his deep-hued and distressed motorcycle jacket. The time is 4:03pm in the afternoon and the gentleman takes it upon himself to make a quick phone call. See, Dan had a date last night with a woman named Raquel, and she promised to call by four o’clock. We soon get the impression that this has been a long three minutes for Dan. For all we know, he’s been parked here waiting for this callback for a whole lot longer.

LESSON #1: VOICEMAILS ARE TIMEBOMBS– When Raquel doesn’t pick up, Dan leaves a voicemail (with a prompt voiced by Leah Rubin). His message is both enthusiastic about the prospects from the date and curious about her elapsed 4:00pm availability. Alas, one voicemail is not enough. Like Jon Favreau’s hero Mike in Swingers, Dan gets it in his head that he had more to say or extra details to include. One voicemail turns into another and another. Before long, it’s been 40 minutes since 4:03 and he’s still leaving messages, complete with swearing, oversharing, silly apologies, and, finally, asking the film’s title as a label in question. 

LESSON #2: THE PATHETIC SIDE OF DATING IN MIDDLE AGE– The longer Ghosted goes on with editor-producer Ryan Mayers stitching these mini-meltdowns together, the more pathetic this gets for Dan. Sadly, this matches a messy and undesirable side of dating in middle age that exists out there for folks. You’ve got a formerly analog generation who might be great in-person, but flounder when you put them on a phone or app. By golly, that’s Dan alright.

LESSON #3: MIXED SIGNALS FROM THE INSECURE– This short film is only showing Dan’s free-flowing thoughts on whatever transpired with Raquel the night before. To hear his take and read on whatever Raquel was putting out there shows a lack of stability and reality. We know her side exists out there, but it’s not necessary. Honestly and humorously, this is all we need to see and hear in Ghosted to get that shaky first impression about its main character.

When it comes to the aforementioned first impression Keith Black is making as a filmmaker and on-screen performer, Ghosted is just barely enough of a sample to measure. In the scripted tailspins of these voicemails, we can hear a writer’s wit. To see the limited, yet intentional body language to fidget enough in that car seat to deliver the lines with a phone pressed to one ear, we see a game actor willing to ham it up with self-deprecating humor. While what is here in Ghosted is enough for a traditional first impression, it’s still too small of a glimpse to see the fullest creative potential. Black has been making short films and earning praise at film festivals for twenty years, but we too may still need the longer date Raquel got, only for Keith Black instead of Dan. Let’s look forward to that next outing.