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Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #309 in Movie
- Released on: 2008-01-11
- Rating: NR (Not Rated)
- Running time: 97 minutes
Lots of Promise, But No Delivery
I wanted to like this movie. I ordered the DVD hoping it was a controversial satire on the superficiality of the gay ghetto, as promised. What I got was a mildly amusing comedy, with nowhere near as much punch as I expected from the premise.
There were problems immediately. Although he has a perfect body, John-Michael Lander as Christopher portrays a character so unlikable, it's not possible to warm to him at all, let alone develop an interest in what happens to him as the plot progresses. Some may find him irresistibly attractive, but frankly I wouldn't have given him a second glance no matter how much he masked what a creep he is - perfect abs and all. A bigger problem to me was the character played by David Vincent. The film's premise - the brunt of the "hard-hitting satire" - is the fact that Christopher's boyfriend is supposed to be the opposite of what we've been "conditioned" to find attractive because (gasp!) he doesn't work out in a gym and actually has love handles (horrors!). He also doesn't have a glamorous job (I mean, really, who knows any gay men like that?) and - now here's the most shocking thing I could imagine in a satire on gay values - he sleeps in PAJAMAS! Now I know a few guys in Chelsea who might find this impossible to believe, but despite the love handles and the pajamas, the "out-of-shape, chunky, under-employed geek" turns out to be the most attractive man in the whole film. Somehow I think that some of the people this film was intended for won't quite get that.
I liked what this picture was trying to say - Christopher is shallow, superficial, vain and annoying, and more or less gets what he deserves in the end. It's not his promiscuity that bothers us, but the way he treats his conquests, refusing to ever have a second date, and finding the most ridiculous faults imaginable in each potential suitor. But the telling of the tale just isn't very interesting, or very funny, and if they really wanted to make it a satire, it should have been far more merciless to maintain my interest.
Maybe I'm just old enough to remember when gay men didn't spend all their time in a gym, staring at the mirror to confirm their own beauty. I seem to recall that when I first came out in the early 70's, gym bunnies were few and far between in the gay male community. In those days, you were either skinny, fat or average, and if people judged you by your looks, it was solely on the basis of whether or not you had a pretty face. The main things we used back then to attract people were wit, charm, personality and intelligence, along with keeping ourselves reasonably well groomed. Now all I hear and see everywhere is stats, stats and more stats - numbers for waists, chests, arms, and thighs, together with demands that everyone have a perfect body, perfect clothes and a perfect career, or forget it. I was hoping that this film might raise some serious objections to such values, but when the final credits were rolling I felt I hadn't really seen or heard very much to either provoke meaningful discussion or challenge these attitudes, which is what I expect a good satire to do. Some may find it quite enjoyable, and feel it delivers on its promises, but I was less than satisfied when it was over.
Stereotypical Gay Characters
This movie reminded me of the series QAF, with characters that you love to hate. Some of the things they have in common:
Stereotypical gay characters, lead egocentric characters, over the top drama, and typical bar behavior.
In addition this movie adds overbearing gawd-awful music and unrealistic camp in almost every scene.
Why did I give it 2 stars? Even though I thought the confrontational ending was a bit over the top, I liked it. The message got through to the audience. I did ask myself, however, why the confronting person felt that he was morally superior when he himself was still lurking in the bar's dark corners.
Denial of reality all around here but still worth 2 stars for providing us with *some* hope.
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