From Omeleto.
A man feuds with the garbage collector.
BARRY VS. THE BINMAN is used with permission from Craig Moore. Learn more at https://facebook.com/barryvsthebinman.
Barry is woken one morning by the sound of a leaf blower. His neighbor, Shane, is clearing the garden, and after a bad breakup, the noise is the last thing Barry needs. Then Shane has the temerity to bring Barry’s garbage can back to his driveway, because the garbage collector keeps leaving it in the wrong one.
Over the next few weeks, the garbage collector leaves Barry’s waste container in Shane’s driveway. Barry becomes obsessed with trying to catch the garbage man in the act, even dreaming about confronting and attacking the man. Barry may be down on his luck and his life may feel out of control, but he’s determined to win this battle for himself, no matter what.
Directed and written by Craig Moore, this entertainingly pugnacious short comedy follows the travails of a thirtysomething man beset by life’s annoyances. Barry’s long-term girlfriend broke up with him; he can’t get a good night’s sleep because he’s woken early every morning by his neighbor’s leaf blower. The garbage collector keeps leaving his bin in Shane’s driveway, giving Shane a chance to needle Barry. All these struggles and slights have added up, and Barry is furious at everyone and everything, putting him at odds with the world.
Well-written and dynamically directed, part of the storytelling’s strength is how down-to-earth and relatable Barry’s life is. Passive-aggressive neighbors with loud lawn equipment, breakups and municipal nuisances: these peccadilloes are the travails of everyday life for many people. The writing traces their buildup, but also their impact on Barry’s depressed state of mind, and one of the most relatable emotional insights and sources of humor in the storytelling is how the pile-up can begin to feel overwhelming, especially to someone with Barry’s already irascible temperament. (He does, after all, drink from a coffee mug with "Mr. Right" emblazoned on it.)
The tone strikes a fine line between the humor in Barry’s struggles and the real anger he begins to feel, veering into a darker interlude that feels both extreme and unsettlingly feasible. That interlude isn’t real, but it makes clear that Barry’s mental state is building up. Actor Graham Earley plays Barry’s emotional tumult in a grounded way, anchoring the film in an emotional reality and modulating the buildup from irritation to an increasingly irate state. Building up a confrontation with his enemies in his head, he’s ready to confront his foes once and for all.
Enjoyably grumpy and consistently compelling, BARRY VS. THE BINMAN builds up to what we’d expect as a cathartic release, but in reality, the bin finally gets put in the right place, leaving Barry flummoxed. With no place left to place his anger, he finally learns a valuable lesson. He finally takes that energy and impetus and channels it in a productive way, accepting and letting go of what he cannot control. He can move on, throwing out what’s holding him back and moving forward at last.
