"The Parlor" is a 10-minute short film from almost 15 years ago written and directed by Geoffrey Haley, who is actually a successful cameraman who worked on many big Hollywood films. In this short film here, he gives us his take of what it would be like to actually be in a room with the people you meet in a chat room. A man in his 40s says he is 15 to impress a 14-year-old girl. A boy who is actually the same age of the girl says he is 20 to impress her as well. Nobody cares about the obese honest woman. A man confesses his homosexuality to another man, who, on the other hand, thinks he is talking to a girl. This is a totally hilarious little movie, which also has some nice dramatic moments. However, I wish Haley would have taken a completely different path with the ending. It was nicely done how he switched the action from physical room reality to real room reality, but the final scene was a big no-go. Too unrealistic for my taste. I wish he'd have shown us how the chat room people actually exist in real life, how they leave the room, maybe go to dinner with their wives/husbands instead of hurting this movie with a truly ridiculous and unfunny ending. Still, overall a pretty good watch. Thumbs up and I hope Haley is going to write and direct some more in the future.

I wouldn't call it brilliant or genius, but The Parlor is certainly an amusing piece... and definitely worth a watch.** possible spoilers **I knew what it was about after about a minute or two, probably because I spend a fair amount of time online and know about the stereotypes that are associated with 'chat rooms', and it was rather realistic in that regard... Whether or not it's a true and accurate representation of chat rooms in general is a different story... Might be, might not be. Either way, it was witty and very well made. However, I do think I've seen a comic strip or something with the same theme in the past though, so it didn't strike me as overly brilliant or original. Thumbs up nonetheless.

This short is very well done. The characters are all recognizable to someone who has spent time online. It may not be entertaining to someone who doesn't use computers often, but they're getting few and far between. The ending is a little anticlimactic, but is still semi-realistic. The best part has to be the admin though.

It takes a few minutes to understand what is going on, but that moment of realization is immensely satisfying, as you realize, "I've done that!" A very witty satire with a great ending. Can't wait to see more from the director.