Chelsea Lupkin
Colin Kennedy’s award-winning, unconventional romantic comedy, I Love Luci, is a film about missing teeth, unrequited love and a dog’s destiny to bring two people together. A short with surprising depth, Kennedy’s film cleverly skates between comedy, romance and social commentary, managing to provoke a range of emotions from its audience with in its tight 12-min run-time.
In a series of unlucky events, a woman wakes from an intense night of drinking to find that she has lost her dentures, presumably down the toilet. Strolling along with her beloved dog, Luci, and having accepted her misfortune, she is intercepted by a well-intentioned male friend who would love nothing more than to be her translator. Yes, translator. A thick accent with a sprinkling of missing teeth make speaking a comically difficult task and adds to the film’s charm.
In this way, Kennedy presents a film with a sophisticated version of slapstick comedy coupled with a gritty British undertone true to its class culture. When Luci goes missing too, a tale of an unlikely hero and a quest to prove one’s love ensues.
While the film is certainly entertaining, between watching Majory reject Tommy in more ways than one, there’s a lot more going on outside the focus on the relationship of its central characters. Yes, I Love Luci is about unrequited love, but it also features a clever social commentary where the pair’s unfortunate situation speaks volumes about a certain section of society, but never feels mocked. It always feels as if Kennedy is inviting you to laugh along with his hapless duo… and never at them.
And though Kennedy’s comedy centres around this particular Scottish couple and their own personal struggles, it’s to the director’s credit this is still a hugely relatable film. His characters are so endearing, we as audience members invest in their plight without feeling left out and Kennedy has somehow found a way for people from all walks of life to be an active audience member. It’s this reason that makes I Love Luci a very special film.