UPDATE: I hate to admit it, but Shia LaBeouf has made me feel like a fool. As BleedingCool clearly explains, the material for the short discussed in the following article was essentially stolen from another artist without as much as a ‘thank you’ credit from Labeouf. The actor has been called out for his actions, or lack thereof, and a lot of drama has ensued.

I want to thank the original artist, Dan Clowes, for his brilliant creativity.

When most people think of Shia LaBeouf they picture an actor who has appeared in movies big and small, but what you may not know is that he’s also a budding filmmaker. In 2013, LaBeouf created a new short titled Howardcantour.com, and early this morning the film was made available for free online.

Starring comedian Jim Gaffigan in the title role, Howardcantour.com follows an online film critic who finds himself in the difficult position of having to interview someone whose latest work he did not enjoy. Even worse, it’s someone he once thought could change the world of cinema. Now that same once promising filmmaker feels like a hack to Howard, and as he narrates his frustration over the place he’s found himself in life you begin to believe he feels the same way about himself. I want to discuss the film more in-depth, but it’s probably best you see it first. You can view Howardcantour.com, in full, below:

HowardCantour.com (Film by Shia LaBeouf) from Short of the Week on Vimeo.

For having a runtime of less than fifteen minutes, Howardcantour.com offers an impressive display of filmmaking talent from LaBeouf. The decision to cast Gaffigan is perfect not just because Jim looks the part, but many of the idiosyncrasies he possesses pairs well with critics I have encountered in real life. Likewise, the dialogue and overall feel of the roundtable portion is spot-on. Labeouf nails the empty discussion about the film in question, and how each person somewhat haphazardly tries to be as polite as they can regardless of their actual feelings towards the feature.

My one complaint overall is that I cannot help feeling Labeouf’s ultimate message is that the only reason Howard chooses to post his review is because of his desire to push away the memories he associates with the filmmaker’s debut effort. It’s almost as if Shia wants us to believe Howard hates where he is in life so much that he’s willing to tarnish the reputation of others for the sake of keeping his own emotional baggage at bay, and while I can appreciate that personal relationships no doubt have an effect on how people create, it’s not exactly fair to paint such motivation as the only reason for Howard to post his review. What if the film actually sucked? What if, and this is just an if, Howard is actually spot-on? Perhaps the allure of a roundtable with a notable director lead his ‘frienemies’ in film critiquing to let their judgment slip, or maybe no matter how much some filmmakers want to believe their passion projects are great, they are, to some, disappointing. As the saying goes, “You can’t win ‘em all.”

In the end, there is a lot to love about Howardcantour.com. That said, I probably have no ability to look at this objectively as I too spend hours every week illuminating screens with my opinions on other people’s work. What do you think of Howardcantour.com? Comment below and let us know your thoughts.

Written by: James Shotwell (follow him on Twitter)

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James Shotwell

James Shotwell is the founder of Under The Gun Review. He loves writing about music and movies almost as much as he loves his two fat cats. He's also the co-founder of Antique Records and the Marketing Coordinator for Haulix. You should probably follow him on Twitter.

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