Tea
Written and Directed by Blake Rice
Starring Michael Gandolfini, Olivia Nikkanen
Unrated
Runtime: 12 minutes
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by Ryan Silberstein, Managing Editor, Red Herring

If Tea was any longer, I’m not sure I would have been able to make it through it, because this short film packs so much relatable feeling into its 12-minute run time that I found myself extremely moved. The film opens with Nicholaus (Michael Gandolfini) talking into a camcorder (the date and image fidelity underline the ‘90s setting here), awkwardly trying to have one side of a conversation. When we transition outside that camcorder’s view, we see that he is seated on an old chair in the loading dock area behind a shopping center. There is garbage stacked around, old pallets and boxes. Some kids skateboard in the distance, teasing him from afar.

Gandolfini perfectly captures the delicate yearning of a teenage boy who lacks any measure of self-confidence in regards to asking out his crush. Not just in the way he delivers dialogue but in his body language and the way he holds his face. His performance conveys that this is a sweet boy who wants to be seen and liked but often feels overlooked or misunderstood. And this is before he gets stung in the neck by a hornet.

From there, Tea escalates into a charming romantic comedy scenario, where the only one around to save his life is his crush. Tierney (Olivia Nikkanen) emerges from the back of the pharmacy she works at to take out the trash and sneak in a smoke break. As Gandolfini’s character struggles to breathe, what ensues reminds me of Ben Stiller’s performances in Along Came Polly or The Heartbreak Kid, a perfect blend of grounded emotions amid an outsized situation.

The writing and direction from Blake Rice is as important to Tea’s success as Gandolfini’s performance. Rice’s approach to the story emphasizes pathos but also executes the situational irony to maximize comedy. It is sometimes a difficult balance to strike, and many shorts opt to lean into comedy, saving the emotional punch for the final beat, but Rice threads the needle through all 12 minutes here. Tea is extremely impressive, and I look forward to seeing more of Rice’s work in the future. If he reteams with Gandolfini, all the better.