An All American Toothache: A Short That Hits Where It Hurts

Should you watch An All American Toothache? If you enjoy watching people get poked with sharp metal objects for the sake of comedy, you will have a blast. If you have genuine dental anxiety, maybe skip this one. It is not for the faint of heart, or the faint of gum.

The whole premise is just mean-spirited enough to be funny. Thelma dumping her friend's dental school requirements onto Patsy feels like something a bad friend would actually do. You can feel the tension building the second Patsy realizes she is being volunteered.

The drill sounds. Oh man, they really leaned into the sound effects. It is that high-pitched, screeching whine that makes your own molars ache just hearing it. 🦷

Patsy Kelly is doing a lot of heavy lifting here. Her physical comedy is top-tier, especially when she is trying to escape the chair. There is this one moment where she looks like a fish hooked on a line, flailing around while the dentist just keeps poking away. It goes on a few seconds too long, which somehow makes it funnier.

It is not as tight as The Big Idea, but it has this loose, frantic energy that I kind of dig. It feels like they made it up as they went along. Sometimes a scene just ends because, well, I guess they ran out of things to break in the office.

Random Observations

• The dentist’s office looks like a dungeon disguised as a medical facility.
• I swear the background actors are trying not to laugh in at least two different shots.
• The chair itself looks like it could double as a torture device in a much darker movie.
• Why is there so much screaming? My ears are still ringing.

It is definitely not a masterpiece. It feels a bit like Dancing Dynamite in the way it just throws chaos at the screen until you are exhausted. But for a quick hit of old-school slapstick? It does the trick.

I found myself squinting at the screen during the worst parts. You know the parts. When the pliers come out. Yikes.

It is a short, sharp shock of a film. Watch it with a snack, maybe something soft. Do not watch it right before you have a real appointment. Trust me on that one.