What a fantastic short! I would not have picked up on Dr. Awkward being a palindrome without the help of other reviewers, so I wanted to add some thoughts to the theme as well. Did anybody notice that the shoulder bag strap that the human/rat wears is labeled with the infinity sign? That's when it occurred to me that the character isn't being referred to box 181, it's a call to return the character to the same struggle, over and over again, for infinity - the infinity sign is in between two parallel lines on the box key. Same DVD, same run, same message, and this snatch of time starts over again.What I enjoy about the theme is that the cycle continues only as long as the character lets it continue.There's some really interesting post-modern theology in this short: humanity's view of God, of time, of the "important" things in life.

First off let me say that I loved this film. I've watched it at least 4 or 5 times now, and I'll probably end up viewing it again. However, I have a few questions...I understand the movie itself and underlying themes, but I have a question about the title. I know it is a palindrome (spelled the same way backwards and forwards), as is the character's name, "Dr. Awkward," but is there some other connection or meaning in the title? It doesn't really seem to connect to the film itself, as far as I can tell.Also, the cartoon character's face is posted EVERYWHERE in the city...billboards, sides of buildings, trucks, poles, etc. I assume that this is trying to show that everyone is looking for "salvation" or inner peace wherever they can find it. Any thoughts?If anyone has any thoughts I'd love to hear them!

OK, I watched this movie like twice and I started getting pissed off. I thought why does it keep restarting? so I read a comment posted on it and they said click the flower girl. I did, then you get stuck at the flowers so I clicked on the guy again. Seems to be this movie IMO represents day to day life. boring in and out rush rush we do in our society. The man dr awkward seems to be anybody; you me. never stopping to smell the roses and just burning through day to day when you click on the flower girl you smell the roses but It seems you can get caught up in that too. too much enjoying your life not enough work I guess. then finally the guy takes off his watch and ends the cycle. pretty cool movie when you understand it. freaked me out at first, was like a bad nightmare. feel free to email me with your opinions. peace!

Hmm...I didn't have a clue what this film was about but the style was amazing. Normally that alone wouldn't be enough for me to rate a movie highly but for some reason I feel compelled to recommend this short on its style alone. It really is quite unique. I particularly loved the sound design - listen to how Underwood's movements are synchronised with the sounds of traffic in some shots. Also, the colour was great - all blues and greens and muted shades. Simple shots seem to have been somewhat re-juvinated and made ten times more interesting, for example when he looks at his watch; or when he picks up the payphone in the station and we get that Homicide-style jump cut/dialogue repetition.Can't say I get the story in any way whatsoever, even after reading the plot summary, but I'd recommend it just for how it looks and sounds.