Short Film Review: 'Summer with Mrs. Von Mausch' (2011)

All-in-all, not a bad little short for being 10 years old. There were some noticeable sound mixing hiccups and problems in the script, but these things you can forgive for the most part. If nothing else, Summer with Mrs. Von Mausch provides a much-needed,

★★★

NR - Drama, Comedy (14 minutes)

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“A thirteen year old girl develops an unlikely friendship with the eccentric next door neighbor of her divorced father, who is ill-prepared for her New York City visit.”

— Official Synopsis

It has been almost 10 years since the film was originally released. How does it hold up in 2021?

Summer with Mrs. Von Mausch stars Molly Learner (Summer Getty), Annie McGreevey (Mrs. Mausch), and David Pomes (Paul Getty). For starters, there isn’t much meaningful time spent with these characters to gauge whether or not they are likable: Paul Getty, though, is certainly not father-of-the-year. He leaves his daughter stranded in the house day in and day out while seeming the least-bit interested in spending quality time with her. The little joy Summer is able to squeeze out of the Big Apple is through her interactions with her father’s neighbor, Mrs. Von Mausch.

Quirky and off-beat, Mrs. Von Mausch is strange — and childlike. She seems to be the perfect companion for Summer while her father is away. Yet, Mrs. Mausch is severely unstable and this leads to the film’s dramatic climax. Summer and Mrs. Mausch don’t spend much time together beforehand, but there certainly was enough lingering material to cover and give them more time. Of course, this kind of story has been done before but there is undeniable chemistry between Learner and McGreevey that is entertaining and innocent, enough.

Where Summer with Mrs. Von Mausch truly falters is in the clunkiness of the dialogue. All of the scripted interactions between the characters felt flat and uninspired. David Pomes, who wrote, directed, and starred, in the film seemed to have a very particular tone he wanted to capture — unfortunately, it just didn't come through on the dialogue. Some of the quieter moments had more of an overall impact on the emotional beats laced in the script. However, not all aspects of the short film were subpar; Branan Edgens’ editing technique, for example, perfectly captured the chaotic mood that Pomes was going for. While the music could be overbearing sometimes, it did adequately set the pacing expectation and timeline for the story.

All-in-all, not a bad little short for being 10 years old. There were some noticeable sound mixing hiccups and problems in the script, but these things you can forgive for the most part. If nothing else, Summer with Mrs. Von Mausch provides a much-needed, brief escape from reality.

As of writing this, you are able to watch this short little film for yourself on Vimeo: https://vimeo.com/414556773