How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps! (2016)

A waste of 90 minutes of my life

The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Interesting to watch this film without having known anything about it; at least, I found it interesting to be carried along by it but also then to have to reflect on it. I read some of the comments here, on Short of the Week (where I saw this) and on the site holding the original essay on which this is based – a lot of people taking the title at face value. Maybe this is understandable, because the film does make it look like such an advice film, and it does show the lead actor toning up significantly, but the workout aspect of the film is less about losing weight, and more about time healing.The character throws himself into something to an almost unhealthy degree (here it is the gym, but it can be anything I think). With time he starts to break out of it, and find a new path for his life that is not defined by the pain of a previous relationship. This is delivered at pace and is generally amusing if deliberately not hilarious. The voicework and performances are all spot on – and credit to the editing, which is practically a character here. I wondered if the film hung its hat too much on the value of the person being defined by the presence of a relationship, and on reflection this bothered me a bit; but on the other hand it all rings true for those of us who have been through breakups (whether we went into the gym or not).I'm still not wholly sold on its message (and the way others genuinely take it as a film about getting in shape sort of confirms that it is not strong on that front) but I enjoyed the energy, the pace, the honesty, and the way all parts work together as a whole.

"How to Lose Weight in 4 Easy Steps" is a 7-minute live action documentary (spoof?) from January this year (2016). The director is Benjamin Berman and the script comes from Emmy winner Aaron Bleyaert. The title already tells you what this is about, or does it really? I don't think so because between step 3 and 4, the focus switches entirely towards how you can become a happy person completely aside from the losing weight factor. I must say I did not find the watch really funny, but it has nice depth I think and there is lots of truth to it. Of course the "empty rooms with lights on" scene was the highlight and I also liked how his ex-girlfriend called him at night and we don't find out why because it doesn't even matter anymore. It is all about happiness, no matter how much your weight is and I also liked how the film made slightly fun of these "how to lose weight in..." guides by rushing in number 4 at the very end just to do the title justice, even if it had become completely pointless at that point what point 4 is and we would not even have recognized it missing if they had not included it eventually. I thought this was a good watch, solid narration, nice focus and story. Check it out.

Even though it satirizes the concept of weight loss as well as life in general, this short gives some decent advice on how to make your life what you want it to be. It feels like a long TV commercial only without a sales pitch at the end. It has a lighthearted and sarcastic tone, thanks to Conan O'Brien's voice-over. Much of it does not actually have much to do with losing weight or "easy" weight loss programs. Instead, it presents the progression of forming healthy habits in an entertaining way. The humor of it is created almost exclusively through style rather than through the events of the story. There's also a rather uplifting aspect to it as we see our unnamed protagonist take action to change his life so that he stops feeling like garbage. I had gone into it hoping that it would be like an SNL skit about weight watchers, but it's not. If you are interested, you can find it on YouTube pretty easily, but I wouldn't watch it with your kids.

Excellent short-film, perfect voice-over making it a compelling story and pleasant to watch. I am a twenty-two year old man. At this moment in time, February, the new start of a year which is publicly renown for starting to loose weight plans. In my case an even greater similarity stage in life as the main character, therefore making this content so empathetic for me. Probably for a whole lot other young adult men out there too. Furthermore I like that you added recently discovered facts abut food at the end, making it at the same time also educational. I was already motivated and had a strategy but this will help me get through all the major changes life brings Thank you for making this, and hoping eagerly for your next short film!Always good to leave room for improvement of my rating, Life is all about getting to perfection and never materializing it.