Today, the test screening of a little known, low budget student production will air in the college town of Pullman, Washington. The movie follows two cops that represent bits and pieces of characters from nearly every buddy-cop action movie in existence, amalgamated together to form the caricatures seen on the silver screen.
The project, dubbed “Justice Never Reloads: A Cop Drama Movie”, is the result of a long, strange series of events that began as an inside joke between friends with an affinity for over-the-top action flicks.
What started as a joke resulted resulted in an idea, then a script, and finally a pilot. The next logical step was a film.
A short film.
The movie is approximately 35 minutes in length. But in those 35 minutes, audience members will be treated to blazing gun battles, shockingly well choreographed fight scenes, and so many side-splitting one-liners that laughter will prohibit any claims of diplomatic immunity. (...has just been revoked?)
But beyond the laughs and karate chops, something else stands out, heads and tails above anything else. Not a joke, or a scene, or a particularly extravagant fake mustache, but something else entirely that can’t be seen at the premier.
The makers of this film had a dream, as silly as that dream might have been, and didn’t allow anything to prevent making it a reality. A beyond hectic production schedule, numerous post-production gaffes and even a copyright ownership controversy stemming back to the pilot couldn’t stop this dwarf juggernaut. For a select few in the group, pulling the plug on Justice was never an option.
With job satisfaction polls from every imaginable news outlet suggesting an increasing number of Americans hate their jobs, it’s clear that people are choosing to settle for less.
At what point do we stop wanting to be an astronaut, or a race driver, or a firefighter? Why do so many people flip that switch from dreamers to unwilling clock punchers? How many “K’s” would it take for YOU to cash in YOUR dreams?
Is this movie a career launch pad for anyone involved?
Probably not.
But JNR is a tribute to every man, woman and child who ever said “Hey, wouldn’t it be cool if...” and refused to let anyone talk them out of it.
My advice to you at this point? Go see the movie or don’t. It’s up to you. Whether you like the movie or not, your opinion couldn’t matter less, because these quirky, pipe dreaming movie-makers have already accomplished more of their goals with a 35 minute film than most people do in a life time.
