Film: 2009: August: Shorts

Shorts

Toe Thompson (JIMMY BENNETT) makes a wish on the rainbow rock in Warner Bros. Pictures' family action adventure comedy "Shorts." Photo by Van Redin

In theatres on August 21, 2009
(Warner Bros. Pictures)

Movie Production Notes

Official Website: www.shortsmovie.com

Director: Robert Rodriguez
Writer: Robert Rodriguez
Producers: Elizabeth Avellan, Robert Rodriguez
Executive Producers: Dan Lin, Hunt Lowry, Stacy Cohen

Cast: Jon Cryer, William H. Macy, Leslie Mann, James Spader, Jimmy Bennett, Kat Dennings, Trevor Gagnon, Leo Howard, Devon Gearhart, Rebel Rodriguez, Jake Short, Jolie Vanier

Action/Adventure Comedy. "Shorts" is set in the suburb of Black Falls, where all the houses look the same and everyone works for BLACK BOX Unlimited Worldwide Industries Incorporated, whose Mr. Black's BLACK BOX is the ultimate communication and do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation.

Other than keeping his parents employed, however, Mr. Black's BLACK BOX has done nothing for 11-year-old Toe Thompson, who just wants to make a few friends...until a mysterious rainbow-colored rock falls from the sky, hits him in the head and changes everything.

The Rainbow Rock does Mr. Black's BLACK BOX one better: it grants wishes to anyone who holds it. Before long, wishes-gone-wrong have left the neighborhood swarming with tiny spaceships, crocodile armies, giant boogers...and outrageous magical mayhem around every corner.

Kids-with-rock: Lug (REBEL RODRIGUEZ, left) and Laser (LEO HOWARD, right) watch as Loogie (TREVOR GAGNON) closes his eyes to make a wish on the rainbow rock in Warner Bros. Pictures' family action adventure comedy "Shorts." Photo courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

But it's not until the grown-ups get their hands on the Rock that the trouble really starts.

Now Toe and his newfound friends must join forces to save their town from itself, discovering along the way that what you wish for is not always what you want.

From filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, creator of the "Spy Kids" trilogy and "The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D," comes the family action-adventure "Shorts."

Eleven-year-old Toe Thompson is the designated punching bag for the bullies of the suburban community of Black Falls, where his and everyone else's parents work for Black Box Industries, makers of the do-it-all gadget that's sweeping the nation. But during a freak storm, a mysterious Rainbow Rock, which grants wishes to anyone who finds it, falls from the sky. Suddenly, the neighborhood that Toe already thinks is weird is about to get a lot weirder. As the Rainbow Rock ricochets around the town--from kid to kid and parent to parent--wishes-come-true quickly turn the neighborhood upside down in a wild rampage of everything from tiny aliens to giant boogers.

The magical fantasy adventure "Shorts" is told through a series of interwoven not-so-tall tales that each brings to life the sometimes wonderful, often terrible, and totally out-of-control wishes that become far more than Toe and his neighbors ever imagined.

Written and directed by Rodriguez, the film is produced by Rodriguez and Elizabeth Avellan, with Dan Lin, Hunt Lowry, Mohammed Khalaf and Edward Borgerding serving as executive producers. As he often does, Rodriguez served as his own director of photography, editor, visual effects supervisor and composer on the film.

Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Imagenation Abu Dhabi and Media Rights Capital, a Troublemaker Studios Production, a Robert Rodriguez movie, "Shorts."

The film has been rated PG by the MPAA for mild action and some rude humor.

2009 Films | August 2009 Films