A man tries to find a one-night stand at the club, then gets more than he expected. | Tough Guy

Alex loves to go out at night to clubs and bars with his mates. They drink, shoot the breeze, try to pick up women and hopefully end up in bed with someone for a night's hookup.

But one night, he meets Ellen, who is grounded, smart and mature. Amidst the loud music and drinking, they find they enjoy one another's company. What seems like a one-night stand looks promising for something more -- except for Alex's lack of experience with real relationships.

Directed and written by Jackie Mahoney, this short drama is a sharply observed yet compassionate snapshot of an emotionally immature man coming up against the limitations of his approach to life and love. In many ways, Alex is a typical young man, enjoying nights out with his friends and not taking life very seriously. With beer, women and carousing on a regular schedule, Alex's carefree, dissolute life is captured with a naturalistic immediacy, conveying the excitement and energy he experiences in these nighttime outings with his crew of friends.

When he meets Ellen, though, the pacing and camerawork slow down, entering the more reflective space that Ellen seems to carry within herself innately. Ellen is different from the other partygoers at the bar, hanging back as if skeptical of her surroundings. She's more melancholy because of a recent breakup, but temperamentally, she's more grounded and perhaps thoughtful about life. Despite her differences with Alex -- and a few jokingly offensive things he says during their banter -- the two end up talking with one another. Their dialogue balances between the typical drunken bluster of a bar pick-up and moments of real connection, especially as they walk home together.

As Alex, actor Jake Turner ably conveys the laddish bonhomie that fits in with his friends but also a hint of insecurity, particularly as Ellen -- played by actor Shian Denovan with strength and emotional intelligence -- proves difficult to impress. He attempts to win her over, but he also feels comfortable around her. She seems to hint at a stability of affection and warmth, and a richer realm of emotional experience. But sadly, he has no idea how to go about getting it. He only knows how to parlay a conversation into a hookup, but past that, he's at a loss.

Full of quietly rich performances and perceptive storytelling, one of the gifts of "Tough Guys" is its ability to hint at larger possibilities and missed opportunities. Even in the shards of connection that viewers witness between Alex and Ellen, we see what someone like Ellen can offer Alex. But the film also has insights into how Alex has been stifled in his emotional development, partly because he and his friends don't quite know how to talk about emotions, relationships or even women in general without falling back into cliches of macho bluster. Alex can't quite articulate, even to himself, that he would like to get to know Ellen better on a real, human level, and he feels saddened that Ellen took his participation in hookup culture at face value. He wants more, and he realizes, perhaps, that he has more to offer. But he's at a loss on how to break the cycle and break free of his mask, leaving the film as a quietly poignant and personal tragedy.