Sophie Loubiere, in an article on the Hamptons International Film Festival, in the French Film Magazine, "Repérages," wrote:

Meanwhile, in another screening room, a young American director's short film coming from Los Angeles causes a shock: Jared Seide's "Creampuff" (an intense "two-hander" between Jack, a sick movie "has-been" who suffers martyrdom and his gay friend, a so sweet big fat guy) holds in 26 minutes the promise of another U.S. cinema. The way it is directed and the actors' performances are in a complete opposition with this woolly and false "cinema vérité," hyper-aestheticized tendency these last years. The skill with which he directs the new monsters generated by his own society gives to the screen a human dimension. Let us wish "Creampuff" will "make babies" (And that this movie will be the beginning of a serial of other movies.) And thanks to the word of mouth, it comes out already as the winner of this Festival!

After screening the films of The Method Fest, Annlee Ellingson, of the LA WEEKLY, provides the following review of CREAMPUFF:

In addition to writing, directing and producing his short CREAMPUFF, Jared Seide plays a bona fide asshole, a Hollywood has-been confined to his recliner and dependent on his roommate caregiver, whose weight and sexual orientation he viciously derides. Visibly hurt by his charge's verbal abuse, Scott Harlan's title character patiently and sympathetically endures until, in the film's violent, emotional climax, it's revealed why he remains in this explosive environment. It's performances like these that the Method Fest aims to honor.

Kevin Thomas, of the Los Angeles Times Calendar section, had this to say about CREAMPUFF:

...Marked by outstanding performances... Jared Seide's 26-minute "Creampuff" (is) an engrossing study of the interplay of power and dependency within a relationship between Jack (Seide), a now-crippled Oscar-winner, and Robert, a hefty young man who takes care of him.

Robert (Scott Harlan, wonderfully self-possessed) is the object of Jack's constant invective, directed toward Robert's weight and homosexuality. Secure in the knowledge that Jack is helpless without him, Robert serenely ignores the steady stream of insults. "Creampuff's" finish packs a nifty punch. (full text of article)

The Nashville Tennessean's Kevin Nance caught CREAMPUFF at the Nashville Independent Film Festival, and advised movie-goers:

Frame for frame, this short film packs the most powerful emotional punch of the festival. A portrait of the despairingly needy relationship between an obese gay man named Robert (the amazing Scott Harlan) and the volcanically angry... Jack ([Jared] Seide in a shocking, foul-mouthed, even tragic performance that reminds you of Al Pacino and Robert DeNiro at their most explosive), Creampuff manages to communicate a complex backstory with the most economical means. The only thing wrong with the film is that it's way too short; we want to know far more about these men and what binds them together. Still, if you walk away from this film without being moved and shaken, you need to have your medication adjusted. Highly recommended. (full text of article)

Nathalie Mauret, writing in the French paper LA MONTAGNE had this to say after the festival screening at Clermont- Ferrand (see also: Jared's Travelogue)

"...the first film by American, Jared Seide, CREAMPUFF, (is) a film in which he also plays one of the leading roles, a man diminished by a handicap and completely depressed. He's in the middle of a divorce, unable to see his little girl on her birthday, does not walk, lost his apartment ... in brief, a life of horror. The director films without pity or charity this character, as odious as he is unhappy. Unhappy enough to forget that his only friend in the world, in whose house he lives, is also in pain. An obese homosexual that he calls by the sweet, ironic nickname, "Creampuff" and who is as fat as he is kind. The film explores their relationship, strong and full of conflict, with realism, intelligence and a subtle restraint. Incontestibly, the film to see."

The Victoria Independent Film and Video Festival
had this to say (scroll down to 'Shorts J')...

"Extremely well written (though the dialogue consists largely of obscenities) and ultimately quite moving study of two men locked into a relationship of scorn, hatred, despair, and love."

Michael Janusonis wrote the following feature on CREAMPUFF for the PROVIDENCE JOURNAL before its screening at the Rhode Island International Film Festival:

Solid performances provide the strength in pain-filled "Creampuff."

Creampuff is a deceptively lightweight title for a film that's filled with bile and pain.

This 27-minute short, screening at 7 p.m. tomorrow at the Rhode Island School of Design Auditorium as part of the Providence/Rhode Island International Film Festival, makes for uncomfortable viewing. Its strength lies in its two solid performances as it explores the love-hate relationship between a pair of gay men living in a depressingly spare apartment in a downtrodden Los Angeles neighborhood.

Jack (Jared Seide, who also wrote and directed), is immobile, felled by some unnamed disease. Although he has an Oscar sitting on a table, he sits around the threadbare apartment shouting into a phone, feeling self pity. He pauses only to hurl insults at his chubby, always cheerful friend, Robert (Scott Harlan), who sneaks high-calorie desserts into the house. Jack's diatribe is so mean that one wonders why the sweet-natured Robert, whom he calls Creampuff, stays.

It appears to be some weird sado-masochistic trip that these two are on, though the film never spells it out. The plot revolves around a planned birthday party for Jack's daughter, though she never shows. Her mother, Jack's ex-wife, turns up to offer regrets, leading to more unhappiness all around.

Unpleasant as all this is, Seide and Harlan make compelling characters and wind up, as you might have guessed, with the realization that all they really have in life is each other.