Horst in Translation (filmreviews@web.de)
"The Library Book" is an 8-minute (6.5 without credits) live action short film from 2015 and this one was written and directed by Travis Calvert, a young aspiring filmmaker. This film is part of the Jamison First Shot campaign, an initiative by a whiskey company to support young filmmakers. The outcome here is this relatively short little film about a man who goes to a library to return a book he has had for years, so he sure is ready to pay the ultimate fee. Most of the film is basically talk between him and the library worked about the situation that the library has to close, but also about the bigger picture behind it all, which did not convince me really and this talk was the crucial point of it all. If you like it, you will like the film. Otherwise you won't. Of course, it certainly helped this film's popularity that Oscar winner Adrien Brody plays in here (as well as in the other Jamison First Shots from that year) and also that 2-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey is the producer. But apart from the first minute and maybe the last minute with the final plot twist that also was not as good as it wants to be, it was a relatively forgettable film that does not make me curious about what the future has to offer for Calvert. I give it a thumbs-down.
