Fantastic Fest ’10 – Drones Review

Reviews, Theatrical Reviews

If Initech or Dunder Mifflin employed extra terrestrials, Office Space or The Office would be called Drones. If Dwight and Jim’s feuding went beyond office pranks into interstellar warfare, and Pam were the human caught in the middle, that would be Drones. Directors Amber Benson and Adam Busch (better known as Tara and Warren respectively from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) have created a comedy that, just like those other beloved office comedies, is likely to live long and prosper.

Brian (Jonathan Woodward) is an office drone, buzzing about his work day in a mindless routine. His best friend Clark (Samm Levine) has just dropped two bomb shells on his monotonous workday: 1) he’s an alien and 2) Brian should ask out Amy (Angela Bettis, May), the girl who he’s been flirting with. Brian takes the latter with more stress than the prior, accepting his friend’s alien existence and cautiously asks out Amy.

After a successful date, Brian and Amy (also known around the office as Bramy) have a cuddly two days back at work before Amy drops another bomb shell on poor Brian: she’s an alien too. It so happens that Amy and Clark (or Clarf – you’re gonna say it wrong) are of feuding alien species, and both species are on their way to annihilate Earth. The fate of Earth falls on Brian’s shoulders.

Drones is a fast talking, fast paced comedy with characters that are easy to relate to. Even though everyone may or may not be an alien, they all could very well be people in your office. Just like Office Space and The Office, it’s fun to see your everyday work environment parodied so accurately. The romance between Brian and Amy could be any office romance. Fraternization leads to a drop in productivity whether one party is an alien or a human.

The cast is incredibly strong. They all have impeccable comedic timing, and are all obviously having great fun with this script. Benson and Busch are having just as much fun filming everything. The entire film takes place in the office, and its fun watching the background drones walking around. Apparently OmniLink employs only the prettiest of girls and the dress code requires them to wear pencil skirts and sexy heels.

Drones was a refreshing change of pace from the horror genre films being shown at Fantastic Fest, but it’s just the type of quirky, original, funny film that you’d expect to see there. As the tagline says, it’s “Close Encounters of the Office Kind”. The truth is out there, and it may just be in the cubicle next to you.

Director: Amber Benson, Adam Busch
Notable Cast: Jonathan Woodward, Samm Levine, Angela Bettis
Writer(s): Ben Acker

Jenny is proud to be the First Lady of Inside Pulse Movies. She gives female and mommy perspective, and has two kids who help with rating family movies. (If they don't like 'em, what's the point?) She prefers horror movies to chick flicks, and she can easily hang with the guys as long as there are several frou-frou girlie drinks to be had.