Rob Munday
When you think of the friendships you have in your life, can you remember a time when you did something thoughtful for one of your buddies? An altruistic act of kindness with the sole purpose of showing how much you care. Joel Jay Blacker’s dark comedy Shoes Off is based around one such act and uses it a launchpad to craft a humorous and surprisingly touching tale of the love between two friends.
Shoes Off starts off innocently enough, as we witness those two friends return home after a drunken night out, regaling each other with tales from the evening. As they unabashedly share their love for one another, a simple request – “if I fall asleep, can you take my shoes off” – leads to one of the duo going above and beyond for his inebriated pal. The removal of the shoes is just the starting point in this surreal and often awkward exploration of friendship.
Clayton Farris stars as a friend just trying to do something nice for his buddy in Shoes Off
Although Shoes Off is labelled as a “dark” comedy and it often feels as if it’s heading down some twisted avenues, in truth Blacker’s film, written by Nick Logsdon, is a sweet and touching tale with a lot of heart. “We don’t often get films where two men just express their love for one another”, the director admits as we discuss their inspiration behind bringing the story to the screen, and he’s right. It’s such a simple premise, but it’s refreshing to see two men (even if they are both drunk) declaring their love for each other, even if it looks, as Blacker describes it, “a little weird and uncomfortable from the outside”.
This declaration of love between two friends was obviously a huge motivator for Blacker, who declares that he has “a lot of love” for the friends who have got him through “a lot of really hard times”. Explaining that he makes an “extra effort to let them know ‘I love them'”, the director believes that “the language itself is important” and “more men should say it to their friends”. A sentiment I wholeheartedly agree with, as those three simple words can have a monumental effect on the person they’re aimed at.
Rick Darge looking a little worse for wear as his friend attempts to take care of him in Shoes Off
On the subject of sharing, this was another incentive for Blacker when creating Shoes Off, as he reveals that Covid restrictions had left with him with a “longing to share something with an audience again”. He didn’t just want to share any kind of film with a crowd though, in particular, he had the urge to screen an “uncomfortable and unsettling” comedy with a crowd, admitting that “they’re so much fun to witness and take part in”. That doesn’t mean that Shoes Off is a film that won’t work online, in fact we think it’s twisted comedy makes for ideal for internet viewing. However, Blacker does hope that it’s a short you’ll make your friends watch, just so you can enjoy witnessing them “squirm and laugh”.
Shot in a single night back to back with another short film (Don’t Let Kyle Sit Down) Shoes Off had a solid festival run, playing Palm Springs, FilmQuest, Austin and others in 2023, before premiering online with S/W. Blacker already has a series of new films in development including: a pilot for a comedy series titled Spy Sub Six, a comedy short about a man’s dying wish to watch his wife and best friend make love, a satire about church abuse, and a horror film called Save the Children about an unintentional cult in California wine country – the last two he’s also developing into features. Sounds like we should be hearing more from him real soon.