Name: Dining Together
Genre: Short
Duration: 10 min
Rating: 2.6

Dining Together is an education short that teaches children proper table manners while focusing on the Thanksgiving holiday. 

I have a two pronged approach to rating educational shorts. First, is the short effective? Does it teach what it sets out to teach? Second, is it entertaining? Even if it's not very effective at teaching, the short can still be entertaining. With Dining Together, it's difficult for me to separate the two. The short is so dull, so lifeless, and so bleak that it's devoid of any entertainment value (well, I suppose there is some unintentional humor, but that doesn't count). I can't imagine anyone learning anything from this depressing film. Learning works best when the student is engaged. There's absolutely nothing engaging here. Based on my criteria, I think the 2/10 rating is justified. 

Finally, just a comment or two on the family. The kids in Dining Together are uber-creepy with their fake smiles. It doesn't help that they're dressed like tiny Jackie Gleason's. And what about Mom? The woman looks completely miserable. I can't remember a genuine smile on her face during the entire film. What a dreary existence.

The short form refers to creative works characterized by their brevity and concise storytelling. Unlike full-length feature films, short films have a running time of less than 45 minutes, while TV shorts have a running time of less than 22 minutes.

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Educational short teaching children proper table manners over Thanksgiving dinner.

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Dining Together

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